Our Special Guest this episode is Ben Tippett, host of the Titanium Physicists Podcast. I'm only calling it a podcast instead of a soundcast because that’s in the official title of the show. Plus Dr. Tippett insists on the term “podcast”. He’s not a fan of the soundcast moniker.

Ben's show is NOT a comedy soundcast in the classic meaning of the term. He is neither a comedian nor is the content overtly intended to be humorous. But, as you will see, he IS funny and the show itself leans heavily that way as well.

ALSO ON THE SHOW

In addition to our Special Guest Ben Tippet, we have a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst with political comedian and social commentator Will Durst and a dip into the Tweetsack. Plus we have what may be the last song by our old pal Abner Serd for a while — I tell you why towards the end of the show. And, of course, this installment of Succotash Chats is brought to you by our friends at Henderson’s Pants, exclusive makers of Santa Pants.

SHAMELESS PLUG

If you are going to be in the San Francisco area during January, chances are you will be in shouting distance of the 16th Annual S.F. Sketchfest. And I will be appearing not once but twice during this hallowed affair. On Sunday, January 15th, I will be moderating a panel before the 40th anniversary screening of Kentucky Fried Movie. I was just graduating high school when KFM came out and it was amazing. Bizarre, hilarious, and just great fun with a crazy cast, directed by John Landis, written and produced by the Zucker Brothers and Jim Abraham — the same guys who later brought us the Airplane! movies, the Police Squad TV series, which led directly to the Naked Gun movies. That will be at the Castro Theater in San Francisco.

And then a week later, on Sunday, January 22nd, I’ll be bringing Succotash to Sketchfest at 4 PM at Piano Fight in the Tenderloin. We’ll have a live 90-minute show and a great lineup of podcasters and comics. So for both or either of those shows, visit http://SFSketchfest.com to get tickets and further details.

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS

If you’re going to be doing any shopping for the holidays by way of Amazon, please do use the Amazon banner at the top of the http://SuccotashShow.com homesite – when you access their site through our site, we get a tasty little morsel of a kickback, and that money helps to cover the production costs of this show. If you’re not in a buying mood, visit out homesite anyway and just click the Donate button. Every penny you donate goes to offset the production costs and upkeep for this soundcast.

And that, my friend, is that. Succotash Chats Epi144 is just another piece of soundcast history now. Hopefully we’ll have another installment dropping before Christmas but, just in case we don’t, have a very merry one and don’t forget to pass the Succotash!

We've got a pile of snippets from comedy soundcasts to share with you. They’ve been gathered from near and far by our Associate Producer Tyson Saner, yours truly, and a few sent in by podcasters themselves via our direct upload link at http://hightail.com/u/Succotash.

Included in this show are clips from 2 Dope Queens, 288 Podcast, Bertcast, Mouth Time with Reductress, Proudly Resents, and Rex Rivetter, Private Eye.

In addition we have a post-election Burst O' Durst segment by political comedian and social commentator Will Durst, plus a month-and-a-half old chat with Chris Mancini (Comedy Film Nerds) from the Podcast Lab at the Los Angeles Podcast Festival. I’m also going to feature a good old-fashioned folk song — Jesse James Blues — by a friend of mine, Patrick Hanlon. And there’s also another song from our buddy Abner Serd, not to mention a long-awaited return to the Tweetsack with our Carnival of Convivial Comradeship.

Also, this epi is brought to you in timely fashion by Henderson’s Turkey Trousers. If you want to do it up right for Thanksgiving this year, stop dressing at the kids’ table and get yourself some Turkey Trousers from Henderson’s Pants!

A COUPLA PLUGS

In the real world, you can catch me live if you’re in the Bay Area, specifically in Marin County, on December 1st when I’ll be hosting a Conversation with Michael Krazny. You may know Michael from NPR. He’s a humorist, a commentator and an author. And we’ll be at the Osher Marin JCC in San Rafael starting at 7:30 PM. You can find out more at http://hersh.co/krazny120116.

Then in January, Succotash has been invited to participate in the 16th Annual San Francisco Sketchfest! They're going to have us do a kind of roundtable with a bunch of the podcasters they’re have on hand. Too early to tell you who’s on the docket yet, but I’ll keep you informed. We’re going to be on Saturday, January 22nd, at 4:30, at Piano Fight in the city. Go to http://www.SFSketchfest.com for tix and deets.

THE CLIPS

2 Dope QueensOne of the hottest shows to pop onto the soundcast radar this past year has been 2 Dope Queens with the absolutely delightful Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams, plus their favorite comedians who join them for stories about sex, romance, race, hair journeys, living in New York, and Billy Joel. They’re deep into their second season now, and our Associate Producer Tyson Saner has shaved us off a taste from their Epi17, “Fifty Shades of Matthew McConaughey”, where they’re joined by The Walking Dead’s Ross Marquand. That interview was bookended by two comedians, and Tyson mentioned that the show, to him, feels like a well produced LIVE talk show devoid of FCC regulations. I like that description.

Proudly ResentsThere are lots and lots of fans of Adventure Time out there and friend-of-SuccotashAdam Spiegelman recently talked with staff writer Kent Osborne (also star of Uncle Kent and Uncle Kent 2), on his Proudly Resents soundcast. (Adam and I were supposed to try to coffee it up when I was in LA for the Podfest back in September but between his new child and my not wanting to lose my coveted spot in the Podcast Lab, we couldn’t do it.)

288 PodcastWe had another clip uploaded to us from Matt Slayer, co-host of the 288 Podcast. I met Matt and his wife, Draven Star, in the Podcast Lab last September during the LA Podfest. They are an…interesting couple. Draven Star is an award-winning Erotic Video performer, they like bourbon — the name of their show is taken from 288 Bourbon — and their show is sort of a tribute to the Explicit rating on iTunes, you might say, In the clip they sent along, they interview porn actress Ella Nova.

BertcastCongratulations to comedian Bert Kreischer, who just passed the 200 episode mark on his Bertcast soundcast! Tyson snipped us off a bit of Bert’s epi 201, where he chats with guest and fellow comic and soundcaster Zane Lamprey about the secrets of successful crowdfunding.

Bert’s show is not the only soundcast to hit 200 episodes this week – big shout out to theStrange Times Showthat also hit epi 200! Way to go Davian Dent, Kat Sorens, and Samantha Pett!

Rex Rivetter, Private EyeWe’re definitely in a period of soundcasting where the well-produced narrative is beginning to blossom. Tyson Saner grabbed us a clip from Rex Rivetter, Private Eye, which the show description calls “a modern radio drama”. Set in 1955, it’s a hard-boiled P-I comic thriller, starring Randy Coule as Rex and series director Rhiannon McAfee as Jenny McIntosh. Epi8, which this clip is from, is called Triple Indemnity. (It’s actually part 2, but Tyson pulled this chunk because it features friend-of-SuccotashSabrina Charlie Miller (Changes In Latitudes) in the role of Luca.

Mouth Time w/ReductressThe immensely popular site Reductress has been pumping out a soundcast with the great title of Mouth Time since March of this year. Tyson snipped us off a clip, featuring co-hosts Quenn and Div who “give you everything you expect from a women’s magazine in 2016.” (Tyson said he just HAD to finally check out the show because he’s been binge-listening to Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast on Stitcher and he says every ad he has heard has been for Mouth Time. This clip is from Epi74: “Cold Storage Facility in a Chicken Farm.” Check out more Mouthtime on iTunes, Stitcher, and iHeartRadio. And don’t forget that you can now find Succotash on iHeartRAdio, too, and YouTube! We don’t have a video component tho the show, but you can listen to us anyway!

GIVING THANKS

I wanted to be sure to thank those of you who have been using the Amazon banner at the top of the page on our http://SuccotashShow.com homepage. We just got a check for $46 bucks and change from our skim off the top the past couple of months, which covers a month and a half of web hosting. I really appreciate it. Keep on shopping – I mean, c’mon, it’s time for Christmas, right? Also, I know that a lot of soundcasts are using Patreon these days, but if you want to help Succotash and cut out the middle man, simply use the Donate button on our homesite. In exchange, I’ll mention your name here on the show, plug whatever you want AND I’ll send you…something. I don’t know what — I’ve got all kinds of merch from the Succotashery kicking around Studio P — so I’ll scoop something up and send it to you if you pass along a snailmail address when you donate.

That's going to do it for Epi143. Please remember to pass the Succotash which is even easier now — let friends, family and absolute strangers know they can find us not only through our homesite and iTunes, Stitcher, and SoundCloud, but we're also now on the Laughable app, iHeartRadio, and even on YouTube!

I thought we were going to do Succotash Clips this time around because the bag of comedy podcast clips in the back room is overflowing. BUT I managed to get an interview with two of the main movers and shakers behind one of my favorite podcasts so I figured we’d trot out another edition of Chats.

The sitcom soundcast Wooden Overcoats is kicking off their Season 2 this Thursday, October 27th, and I got time on Skype with head writer and co-creator David K. Barnes, along with series co-creator and co-star Tom Crowley, who plays Eric Chapman on the series.

They were kind enough to give up part of their Saturday evening in London for me, so I thought I would drop this episode of Succotash in advance of their Season 2 launch. If you haven’t caught the first season of Wooden Overcoats you might want to binge-listen that sucker before jumping into Season 2.

Go ahead…

I’ll wait…

All caught up? Great!

OTHER STUFF

We have a double dose of our Burst O' Durst, with our resident political comedian and social commentator Will Durst. And, man, the upcoming Presidential election has him SO worked up!

This episode is brought to you by Henderson's Toddler Trows, the perfect pants for your kid all the way through his or her high school years.

OTHER OTHER STUFF

Did I tell you that you can now hear the latest episodes of Succotash on YouTube? It's still audio only but, damn…YouTube! And that we're also now part of the iHeartRadio network?

But none of that is making us a lick of money to keep producing the finest award-seeking comedy soundcast that plays clips of other comedy soundcasts. So please visit the homesite, at http://SuccotashShow.com, and click on the Donate button. Or click on the Amazon banner at the top of the page to get to Amazon next time you're going to do some web shopping — they shave off a tiny pit of the proceeds and kick 'em back to us.

That's it. Enjoy the show.

And remember to please pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:03:55yescomedy,david,commentary,sitcom,tom,marc,barnes,crowley,will,k,pants,durst,wooden,hendersons,succotash,hershon,overcoatsSuccotash Chats Epi141: Slummin' with My Dad Wrote A PornoWed, 05 Oct 2016 20:46:41 +0000It is I, Marc Hershon, your host and public defender for Epi141 of Succotash, the Comedy Soundcast Soundcast. And our Special Guests this time around areJamie Morton, James Cooper, and Alice Levine, the cast behind the immensely popular soundcast called My Dad Wrote A Porno, available on Acast.

I don’t think I’ve had an interview on this show that I haven’t enjoyed doing, but I must say that chatting with these guys was a lot of fun. Jamie, whose dad is the one who actually DID write the pornographic novel in question, Belinda Blinked, along with sharpshooters James and Alice were kind enough to set aside part of a Sunday evening in England recently to accommodate me and the time change between London and San Francisco.

For those of you who perhaps haven’t heard My Dad Wrote A Porno, I feature a clip from Epi5 of their show to give you a taste of what the hoopla is all about. It's a simple format, really. Jamie reads passages from the book that his dad – who goes by the name Rocky Flintstone – wrote as Jamie and Alice take turns with their running critique.

The show is now well into the second season and, appropriately enough, focuses on Rocky’s sequel to Belinda Blinked. As you’ll hear in our interview, Jamie was running a little late but James, Alice and I decided to start without him.

OTHER BUSINESS

As if that interview wasn't enough, we've got a double dose of our Burst O' Durst segment featuring our resident political comedian and social commentator Will Durst, plus TWO bonus interviews — a couple of short chats I had at the recent Los Angeles Podcast Festival. The first features Kurt Long and Joey Bragg from The Dudes of Future/Past soundcast, while the second is with George Grimwood, purveyor of the Podnose network from England.

Also, this episode is brought to you by Henderson's HalloPants, just in time for Halloween.

SOUNDCAST VS PODCAST

Our grassroots movement to change the term “podcast” to “soundcast” is being embraced by some, dissed by others. Abner Serd of the Tall Tales & Shaggy Dogs show has changed all of the references on his website to “soundcast”, and the ThunderTaco show is also officially a soundcast. I see there’s also the Salvation Army Soundcast.

On the other hand, I heard via Twitter from the Wheelbarrow Full Of Dicks show and also Chris Lanuti from the Broadcast Basement show that they don’t support the change. Chris says he thinks the name sounds “silly”, which I just don’t get, really. Podcast sounds less silly than soundcast?

That’s okay, of course. I think it’s fair to say that I’m a little disappointed that a couple of shows we’ve often mentioned and supported can’t throw in with us on the “soundcast crusade”, but that’s their prerogative. We still love you guys. Not to mention we still can refer to your shows as a soundcast here on Succotash.

LAST WORDS

Please take a few moments to rate and review Succotash on iTunes, if you’d be so very kind. You can also help us out to defray the cost of producing and hosting this mess by clicking on the Donate button at our homesite, http://SuccotashShow.com, or by doing your online shopping by clicking on the Amazon banner at the top of that very same homepage, or purch some merch at our Succotashery, not surprisingly reachable through that same homesite.

Until our paths cross again, thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:30:14yesjames,a,my,dad,cooper,marc,will,alice,jamie,pants,porno,levine,durst,morton,wrote,hendersons,succotash,hershonSuccotash Clips Epi140: Snippin' All The WayFri, 23 Sep 2016 04:47:58 +0000Yes, ‘tis I – Marc Hershon – your host and former-prizefighter-now-casino-greeter for Epi140 of Succotash, the Comedy Soundcast Soundcast. And, as you heard in the opening introduction by our esteemed booth announcer Bill Heywatt, our carpet now match the drapes. That is to say, we’ve got “soundcast” replacing the outmoded “podcast” just about everywhere we can. Special thanks to our engineer/producer Joe Paulino for making that happen.

LA PODFEST

As I drop this ‘sode, I’m heading to the 5th Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival! Exciting, indeed. I shall be in attendance all three days, more or less. Holding down space in the Podcast Lab to interview just as many folks as I can. And I will be moderating the panel on Journalism and Podcast on Sunday, Supetember 26th, at 2 PM. We’ve got Phoebe Judge and Lauren Spohrer, the host and producer of the Criminal soundcast and Jefferson Graham from USA Today. Should be a lively discussion.

Which you can listen in on! They’re going to be livestreaming the Podfest this year at http://LAPodfest.com and I can get you a special deal. That’s right. They want $25 from you BUT they’ve given me a discount code to give to Succotash listeners. So click on the link and enter HUFFINGTON as your code and they’re knock five bucks off the price. PLUS they’ll kick us a little chunk just because you used our code to get there! Here’s a link that takes you right in - https://podfest2016.eventbrite.com/?discount=HUFFINGTON

CLIPS

This is an installment of Succotash Clips and we have a whole rack of snippets for you. Some I picked, some were harvested by our associate producer Tyson Saner and at least one was uploaded directly from the soundcasters themselves. We’ll be hearing from The Answering Machine Podcast, the Big Question Podcast, Cave Crew Radio, Changes In Latitude, Dark Odyssey, Droids Canada,Ear Goggles, Improv Nerd, My Favorite Murder, No Such Thing As A Fish and The Unwritable Rant.

OTHER STUFF

We’ve also got a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst, courtesy of our friend, political comic, and social commentator Will Durst. In celebration of Fall, there’s a song from our friend Abner Serd all about apples.

THE CLIPS

Improv NerdI decided to do some double duty this episode and clips the same shows that I reviewed this past week for Splitsider.com and the Huffington Post. First up is Improv Nerd with Jimmy Carrane, a great improvisor and teacher from the Chicago area. He interviews some tremendous improv talent on his podcast and just this last week he dropped an episode interviewing always funny and jst slightly off TJ Miller. In this snippet he talks about creating his character of Erlich Backman on the HBO series, Silicon Valley.

Cave Crew RadioWe get a lot of Twitter retweet love from Choo Choo Stu from Cave Creek Radio, the internet radio show and soundcast, so high time we sliced off a hunk, thanks to Tyson. In addition to Stu from London, there’s Sir Big B, outta New York, and Mr. Wednesday Night from Ontario, Canada. The clip we have is from Cave Crew Radio’s highest rated episode on iTunes, Epi6, entitled “Smells like Urine Sushi”, and it’s a section when the hosts and guest on the show chat with the woman who inspired the meme “McScuse Me”.

Ear GogglesLast episode I mentioned in the Tweetsack segment that I got a an upload from the gang at the defunct Ear Goggles soundcast. Well, guess what? They are defunct no longer — Jeremy Grater, Aaron Ristrow, and Stacy Black are back! Jeremy said they just couldn’t stay away and are recording 12 weeks of episodes, then they’ll take a break, do another 12 in the Spring, and so forth. The clip they sent us was from a special drop they did this summer to announce their return.

My Favorite MurderFor Splitsider.com’s This Week In Comedy Podcasts column I recently reviewed the soundcast which is at the top of the iTunes Comedy chart: My Favorite Murder, with comedians Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. If you like your murder flashbacks delivered with a healthy dose of humor and a side of squeamishness, you have coem to the right place. The hosts do their homework and delve into cases that are sometimes fairly recent and sometimes back in the dusty archives. Most recently they looked at the unfortunately murder of a college law student named Jane Mixer and her death at the hands of supposedly a serial killer who was dubbed the Co-Ed Killer. Turns out that, years later, DNA pointed the musty finger of justice at another joker who was incarcerated for the crime. Here’s a sample of Karen and Georgia’s witty back-and-forth…

Changes In Latitudes: A Transgender ExperienceEver since Succotash began about five and half years ago, one of our staunchest supporters and loyal listeners has been Charley Miller, who said he was partly inspired to start his Random Variety Show soundcast. A lot has changed in five years. Charley now goes by the name Charley Sabrina Miller and describes herself as a 40-something transgenderqueer fem-person, and hosts a soundcast called Changes in Latitude: A Transgender Experience. It’s Charley’s stream-of-consciousness journey that she takes us on through life, self-discovery, relationships and beyond.

Doctor Who Dark OdysseyI have to confess to being a little mixed up about a clip I played in the last Succotash Clips show. It was from a show called Doctor Who Dark Journey. THAT was actually a serious take or homage to Doctor Who — sort of audio fan fiction, I think. The same folks responsible for that also put out their own spoof called Doctor Who Dark Odyssey, which stars Atweh Atweh, Paul Thomas Manz, Jason Gray, Merrin Lalonde and which is – according to the email I got with their direct upload to us — “Dark Odyssey is a take on Doctor Who as if it were produced for audio in America with basically everything wrong about it! Our American Doctor shoots, swears and shags!” So what we have is a clip from a parody of a ripoff of Doctor Who. I think. Still confused.

No Such Thing As A FishThere’s a very popular BBC TV panel show in Britain called QI, which stands for Quite Interesting, hosted by Alan Davies and Stephen Fry, in which the point is to just be interesting. And entertaining. Interesting and entertaining. Now the researchers for the show — because it’s got loads of trivia in it — are four folks called the “QI Elves” because they look everything up — have gone and started a soundcast called No Such Thing As A Fish. Simple format – each of the elves, who as named Dan, James, Anna, and Andy, take turns kicking off a segment with a favorite fact for the week. The others then chime in with facts and tidbits related to that fact. The episode that I reviewed for Splitsider.com features them talking about something called “train jam”.

Answering Machine PodcastTyson found us a really interesting soundcast I hadn’t heard before. It’s called the Answering Machine Podcast, and its tells a story all based on a series of answering machine messages left for a woman named Lila Rose. Created by Sara Polton, who voices Lila, there’s a big cast of people who leave the messages.

The Unwritable RantThe last of my review podcasts from last week was featured in Huffington Post Entertainment. It’s The Unwritable Rant from Juliette Miranda, who is a writer and an essayist — kinda the same thing, right? — and she’s clearly a monologist as well. We’ve certainly had some terrific shows from dudes who can riff all by themselves, like Bill Burr and Greg Proops. But there haven’t been a lot of soundcasts like that from women. So give a listen to Juliette…

Droids CanadaThe gang from a show called Droids Canada got a clip to us through our direct upload link, at http://hightail.com/u/Succotash. About the show they say, “Based out of the Niagara Region in Canada this geeky pop culture show features blunt, comedic and outrageous behavior that occurs on every episode! Hosts Mr. J, AJ (and other rotating hosts Gabbypool, Dr. Stevil, DanMo and DJ Johnny Rock) cover current hot TV shows, comic book movie reviews, fan made things, interviews and any geek other related topic they can get their hands on.” This clip features guest James O’Barr, creator of The Crow.

Big QuestionAre you happy? That’s the Big Question that gets kicked around in Epi49 of the English soundcast Big Question. Hosts are Pete, Maria, Gary, Kay and Rocchi, plus they often have guests. Tyson, who snipped this clip, didn’t tell me if there were guests so I guess that’s MY big question. Let’s just listen…

SOUNDCAST OR DIE

To celebrate the kickoff of our grassroots campaign to change the term “podcast” to “soundcast” in as many places as we can, feel free to drop by the Succotashery via our homesite, http://SuccotashShow.com, and pick up some merch emblazoned with our name, Succotash, and the magic words, “The Comedy Soundcast Soundcast” directly beneath it. It’s on shirts, hats, coffee mugs and more.

That's all for now - how to see you at the LA Podfest this weekend or at least know that you're out there listening!

This weekend, September 23-25, I'm heading to Los Angeles to take part in the 2016 Los Angeles Podcast Festival for the weekend.

It's a fun festival, featuring a few dozen of the most popular podcasts today — Welcome To Night Vale, Criminal, Fitzdog Radio, Doughboys, Cashing in With TJ Miller, Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend, and many more that will all be doing live versions of their programs for the PodFest audience.

There are also a number of panels throughout the weekend, including one on Sunday, September 25th, at 2 PM, on Podcasting and Journalism featuring the host and producer of the Criminal Podcast, and a reporter from the USA Today that I have the honor of moderating.

Why am I telling you all this? You, who may be scattered willy and nilly across the globe this weekend? Because the LA PodFest is going to be livecasting the entire event through their website, http://LAPodFest.com, for those who can make the trek to the Southland. And not just in audio but in video, too!

They're charging $25 for the whole kit n' kaboodle of shows, interview, panels, etc. BUT, if you use my special discount code — HUFFINGTON — you can save $5. And you've even be helping out my own podcast, Succotash, the Comedy Soundcast Soundcast, because they're going to kick me back some money based on how many people use the HUFFINGTON code to get their discount.

]]>podcast,los,angeles,marc,festival,hershon,podfest,succotaSuccotash Chats Epi139: Findin' Davy RothbartThu, 08 Sep 2016 13:55:20 +0000Yes, it’s me – Marc Hershon – your host and found object for Epi139 of Succotash, the Comedy Soundcast Soundcast. This is an installment of Succotash Chats, where we focus on talking with a soundcaster, or a comedian, or a comedian/soundcaster, or – in this case – a magazine publisher/editor/writer/soundcaster.

Speaking of found objects, our guest is Davy Rothbart, the creator of Found magazine and, as of a couple of months ago, the Found soundcast as well. (You may have noticed that I’ve been using the “soundcast” word a lot already. Our grass roots campaign to shift from using podcast to soundcast is slowly taking off — you’ll even hear our guest Davy Rothbart mention that he’ll back our play and start using it.)

Davy is a really interesting guy and I enjoyed talking with him and getting the backstory on how he decided to start the magazine and how it's opened up his life by getting all of these odd little notes and other found bits of flotsam that people send him. He also shares a few of his favorite "foundities" with us during the course of our chat.

ALSO THIS EPISODE

We have a double shot of our Burst O' Durst segment, courtesy of political comic and social commentator Will Durst. During the Tweetsack segment I play a clip from the 100th epi of Drew Michael's I Might Be Wrong soundcast, only because his PR folks neglected to send me a free copy of his comedy album that they wanted me to plug. And we have a commercial from our sponsor Henderson's Pants for their ever-popular Drifter Chinos.

LIVE APPEARANCES

There are just a few days left before my live appearance with the Spaghetti Jam 40th Year Reunion Improv Comedy Show. Tickets are going fast but there are still some left, so if you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area on Sunday, September 11th – 9/11, that’s right — we’re at the Throckmorton Theatre in downtown Mill Valley. Such a GREAT lineup of performers that are turning out for this - people who really lit the fuse for what we know as improvisational comedy today: Terry McGovern, Gil Christner, Diane Amos, Debi Durst, Michael Bossier, Denis Egan, Robin Eurich, Andy Goldberg, Rodney Sheriff, John Elk, Chris Pray, Jim Cranna, John Bates, Hennen Chambers, and Andrejs Gulbis. Jump over to http://ThrockmortonTheatre.org for the showtime, tickets and other details.

And then later in the month – September 23-25 – I’ll be at the 5th Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival. In addition to hosting the Journalism and Podcasting panel on Sunday afternoon at 2 PM, I’ll be set up in the Podcast Lab the rest of the time with my equipment doing interviews so stop on by and let’s chat! I’ve already got a couple of folks set up to drop by: Adam Spiegelman from the Proudly Resents soundcast and Chris Gore from the PodCRASH! show and Film Threat Magazine, which is in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign to go back into publication.

A LITTLE HELP?

If you want to help keep Succotash going strong, please visit our homesite at http://SuccotashShow.com, where you can click on our Donate button, shop at Amazon.com by using the banner at the top of the page, or grab some merch at the Succotashery. You’ll also find a link to the homesite for the Laughable app there, where you can learn more about this great new way to find, download, stream and follow your favorite and soon-to-be favorite comedy podcasts.

We won't do anything to stop you going to iTunes and both rating and reviewing Succotash, which helps more people to find the show. And speaking of finding the show, Succotash is now available on I Heart Radio, so check us out there, too!

NOTE: If you haven’t been here the past couple of episodes, we’ve started a campaign to change the generic use of the word “podcast” to “soundcast”. (I realize that this gets a little sticky for those shows that pretty much officially have “podcast” in the name. The word is part of our logo design here on Succotash and for the past 5+ years, we’ve been THE Comedy Podcast Podcast.

But the name is anchoring the medium to a single device – the iPod from Apple – so I want to throw it back wide open with the new designation soundcast. Our announcer Bill Heywatt is supposed to be cutting new intros and outros for the show to reflect the name change, but our engineer/producer Joe Paulino has had a computer meltdown at Studio P. So until he gets things back up and rolling we’re stuck with the old P-word in the open and close to the show.

And also have to get around to changing the logo, as seen here. No one said this soundcast biz was going to be easy. Or did they? I can’t remember…

First of all BIG news! BIG BIG News, in a way – it really isn’t going to change anything as far as I know, but Succotash is now available for your listening pleasure through the I Heart Radio chain, network, thing. It hasn’t required us to do much, as far as I can tell but we are on there! Potentially MILLIONS of new listeners can now avoid us. Just go to IHeartRadio.com and search for Succotash OR click this link!

LIVE APPEARANCES!

I’ve got a couple of live appearances coming up. If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, I’m going to be part of the 40th year reunion show of Spaghetti Jam, which was a really popular improvisational comedy show in San Francisco starting back in the 1970s. We’re gettign as many of the people that we can find that can still move most of their limbs to show up for this. It’s on Sunday, September 11th – that’s right, 9-11, best date for a comedy show ever, at the Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley. You can go to http://142ThrockmortonTheatre.org for tickets and information.

And then later in the month – September 23-25 – I’ll be at the 5th Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival. I’m hosting the Journalism and Podcasting panel on Sunday afternoon at 2 PM, but the rest of the time, I’ll be set up in the Podcast Lab with my equipment doing interviews so stop on by and let’s chat!

Back to business. This is another installment of Succotash Clips, and it’s chock full of tasty snippets of soundcasts and podcasts from all over the web. I clipped a couple, our associate producer Tyson Saner grabbed a few, and we also have some uploaded directly to us using our upload link: http://hightail.com/u/Succotash.

In alphabetical order, we’ll be hearing from Dark Journey, Dazed & Convicted, Dino & Andy’s Skull Juice,Drinking In The Park,Lesser Known Somebodies, Proudly Resents, Spirits, Tao Of Comedy, and The 85th South Show. We also have a visit to the Podcast Graveyard to hold a clip seance with a soundcast from the great beyond.

Plus a Burst O’ Durst from our friend, political comedian, and social commentator Will Durst. We also have a little ditty for our pal Abner Serd. Not to mention a Scrooge McDuck–style dip into the Tweetsack.

This episode of Succotash Clips is brought to you by Henderson’s Pants. If you’re in the market for fictional pants that fit like a dream and don’t really exist, you should get yourself a pair of Henderson’s Pants.

THE CLIPS!

Dino And Andy’s Skull JuiceLet’s start out with a clip from a brand new soundcast, one that reviewed last week for Splitsider.com. It’s got the great title of Dino And Andy’s Skull Juice, and features Dino Stamatopolous, a guy who’s written on SNL, created Adult Swim’s Moral Orel, wrote and appeared on Community, and has written a whole bunch of funny stuff besides. Andy Dick is, well, Andy Dick. He’s been a standup comedian, sketch and improv player, as well as having appeared in films and television. These guys were pals for 25 years, although, as Dino points out in episode #1, he didn’t talk to Andy for 10 years. (Our esteemed Associate Producer Tyson Saner snagged this clip from their kickoff episode, which picks up right from their opening theme song.)

Lesser Known SomebodiesFriend-of-the-SuccotashAbner Serd sent along a link to a comedy podcast he found out of South Africa. It’s called Lesser Known Somebodies, hosted by Johannesberg-based comedian Simmi Areff, and the latest installment features fellowlocal comicAlfred Adriaan. Took me a few minutes to get into the rhythm of the accent but then these guys unspool a kind of fascinating glimpse inside the current comedy scene in and around Johannesberg. (I got such a kick out of listening to Lesser Known Somebodies that I reviewed it in last week’s Huffington Post.)

Proudly Resents We got a clip sent over by Adam Spiegelman, he of the Proudly Resents podcast. (He was complaining that there was no upload button on our Succotashhomesite, which is true. I am working to remedy that. But you can always just got tohttp://hightail.com/u/Succotash and then upload a 3-5 minute MP3 clip.) He recently had Conan writer Todd Levin on to help him dismantle Ninja 3: The Domination. At one point Todd talks about the only time Conan O’Brien ever got sued. As Adam tells it, “It involves a one-hit wonder, an 80’s film, and Tim Tebo.”

Dazed & Convicted: CraigslostWe got a clip uploaded to us from the delightful Monica Hamburg, host of the Dazed & Convicted soundcast. Lately, it’s been subtitled as Dazed & Convicted: Craigslost. And why, you might ask? Monica likes combing the seedier side of Craigslist and presents, literally, the pick of the litter. Litter being the operative word…

The 85 South ShowTyson clipped us a taste of The 85 South Show, which is billed as “a podcast for people who don’t know what a podcast is." It’s hosted by DC Young Fly and Karlous Miller. This clip we have is from an episode done in the wake of police-involved shootings, the killing of Alton Sterling and Philando Castille, with the hosts and their guest, Last Comic Standingchamp Clayton English, discussing solutions to stop the violence, and the role that comedy plays in the social dialog. #blacklivesmatter

Spirits Okay, I don’t know how many times I have said on this show that we prefer to play clips rather than promos. Clips make for better, real-er sample of the show. And I can talk about ‘em. When we had Hal Lublin and Mark Gagliardi on earlier this year, they even made a definitive We Got This ruling that clips are better than promos. But some people don’t get it, and that’s fine. We support all soundcasts and so it is that spirit that I present this 30-second promo of Spirits without additional commentary…

Drinking In The ParkJust the opposite of the challenge of Spirits is what I’ve got going on with a show called Drinking In The Park. The hosts are Neil and Johnny, per their direct upload to Succotash, with no last names. But they sent me the whole episode Issue 10, Live At Toronto Comicon. Not a clip, but almost 10 minutes of chat and music stuff. Still better than a promo! I sliced out a few minutes of them talking to some joker who calls himself That Joker Guy.

Doctor Who: Dark JourneyThis is a clip from a show called Doctor Who: Dark Journey. I don’t think it’s officially affiliated with the British TV series Dr. Who at all. In fact, I know it isn’t, because here’s the note that came with clip: “The attached file is a clip from AM Audio Media's main audio dramaDoctor Who: Dark Journey. Dark Journey is an unofficial fan made audio drama featuring professional actors, writers, sound designers and composers. Our theme tune is by the UK prog rock group 'Traffic Experiment'. Dark Odyssey is a bit of a wink and nod self parody of it and all things fan made.”

The Tao of ComedyThis podcast has a pretty grim origin story. The host, Kelly Maclean, had been at last year’s Just For Laughs festival in Canada, where she interviewed a number of comedians. Four months later, her brother Andrew was killed in a car accident. The conversations she had in Montreal were the things that brought her back from crushing depression and so she’s launched the podcast in order to continue that kind of deep interchange with funny people. In this clip from Epi10, she’s talking to Brad Williams, standup and co-host of the About Last Night soundcast.

Podcast GraveyardIn the 5 years that I’ve been running Succotash, comedy writer Caleb Bacon has had two very listenable soundcasts. The first was called The Gentleman’s Club which took a podcast dirtnap at the end of 2012. A few months later, Caleb was back with more of an instructional soundcast called Man School, in which he talked to guys from various walks off life, although most were somehow connected to show business, and he’d get their story about some deep subject matter. A little over a year ago, in June of 2015, the last known class of Man School was in session. The clip we're featuring is from a few epis before that one, #83, with Caleb and his guest comic, writer and fellow podcaster Mick Betancourt(The Mick Betancourt Show), talking about life as a sober alcoholic.

Country Fair SongThe latest ditty from our friendAbner Serdcelebrates the "season" of county fairs. Special thanks to Abner for joining our "Soundcast Movement"!

SUCCOTASH CAN USE YOUR HELP!

There are a number of things you could do that would help us out in making sure that Succotash continues. First and foremost would be your kind indulgence to head over to iTunes to both rate and review us favorably (AKA 5 stars, please!) Our Donate button is clickable 24/7 at http://SuccotashShow.com, and we have now taken the limits off of how much you can give. That’s right! The sky’s the limit for you listeners who have been holding back because you were afraid you couldn’t give enough. While visiting our homesite, feel free to also click the Amazon banner at the top of the page (although I just learned recently that it may not be working properly if you browse with Google Chrome.) And for those of you who enjoy wearing t-shirts and sweatshirts, or dig drinking your hot beverages from a porcelain mug, we also have merch at the Succotashery, accessible on that very same homesite.

This time around we bring you an edition of Succotash Chats, featuring my interview with Matt Knudsen — comedian, actor, bon vivant, and host of the Grabbing Lunch podcast. Matt was kind enough to have me and Cole Stratton, co-host of the Pop My Culture podcast, as guests on his show when I was in LA last year. As he was recently playing a Tuesday night here in Northern California, I thought I’d return the favor. A few weeks ago, we grabbed dinner and a chat at the Piazza D’Angelo in Mill Valley before his show.

We talk about his early days as a merchant marine before he caught the comedy bug, and some of the acting and other stuff he's been up to since. (We don't talk specifically about any of these, but Matt's appeared recent in such TV shows as The Mindy Project, Rosewood, The League, and Why? With Hannibal Buress.)

ALSO THIS EPISODE

We’ve got a Burst O’ Durstsegmentin this episode. I always appreciate political comedian and social commentator Will Durst's segments on the show but especially with this year’s Presidential race being so wonky — and publicly embarrassing for Americans with what we’ve got running on both tickets.

We also have a call via the SpareMin appwith Reverend John Price, a faithful listener who is on the verge of dropping his own soundcast soon.

And this whole mess is brought to you by Henderson's Back To S'cool Pants. Where would this show be without Henderson's Pants? Well, the same place we are, actually, which means we still can use you vigorous use of our Donate button up at our homesite, http://SuccotashShow.com. While you're there, don't be afraid to use the Amazon banner at the top of the page to do you shopping at the world's largest everything store — because we get a little taste of whatever you spend there. And we've got a link on our site to our Succotashery, whould you want to grab a t-shirt, mug or other piece of merch festooned with the Succotash logo!

PODCAST VS SOUNDCAST

I mentioned last episode, Succotash Clips Epi136, that I’m going to start a movement to replace the name “podcast” with “soundcast”, because why should Apple retain hold of the medium in the name with the vestige of a technology they've basically discontinued?)

So I’ve contacted our musical director, Scott Carvey, and asked if he’d be able to retool his portion of our theme song to say “soundcast” instead of “podcast”. And our booth announcer, Bill Heywatt, is getting ready to record new intros and outros for the show that reflect that change as well.

It’s likely going to take some time to make the switchover and then will come the long, hard road to getting an entire world to change how they think and talk about the medium but what the heck? I’ve got nothing better to do with my time. And, in fact, our friend Dave-In-The-Cave, former co-host of former podcast Taco Tuesday, is about to start his new show, the Thunder Taco Soundcast.

More on the soundcast situation as it unfolds.

Until next time, thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:32:44yesjohn,matt,comedy,podcasts,marc,lunch,will,pants,clips,price,chats,rev,durst,hendersons,grabbing,knudsen,succotash,hershonSuccotash Clips Epi136: Clippin' Like There's No TomorrowSun, 31 Jul 2016 01:15:08 +0000Can it be? Yes! It’s me! Marc Hershon, your host and SPF30 sunscreen for Epi136 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. We’re back once again with a Succotash Clips episode, with an installment jam-packed with fresh clippage.

A couple of things before we get into the meat of this show…

NOT CLIPS

First of all, I’m thinking of starting a campaign to change the generic name of “podcast” to “soundcast”. There are three trademarks in the US for soundcast but two of them are for audio equipment and the third is for a teleconferencing service. So if we all start using soundcast now to describe the podcast experience, there’s a good chance we can keep it in the public domain. (We’ve talked on the show before about how the podcast name was coined around the iPod from Apple, a device that is no longer even produced. And it will do away with the even more awkward “video podcast” which isn’t really even a thing – the video folks can just have videocasts if they want that for a name.)

Secondly, it looks like I’ll be participating in an upcoming celebration of the 40th anniversary of Spaghetti Jam in San Francisco. Spaghetti Jam was an early improv group/pickup game where pretty much any of the San Francisco-based improvisers at the time could drop in, including folks like Robin Williams, Jim Crenna, Lorenzo Matawaran, Michael Bossier, John Elk, Debi Durst, and a whole bunch of others, including yours truly. Well, we’re getting what’s left of the Jam back together for one night. On Sunday, September 11th, we’ll be at the Eureka Theatre in San Francisco. For more info, Check out the Spaghetti Jam page on Facebook.

And finally, I’m also beginning to get prepared for this year’s 5th Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival. Last episode I had a brief interview with Chris Mancini, co-host of the Comedy Film Nerds podcast and co-organizer of the LA Podfast. And in that talk we mentioned that I will be on-hand to moderate the Podcast And Journalism panel, which is going to be great fun. It’s going to be on at 2 PM on Sunday, and the panelists include Phoebe Judge and Lauren Spohrer from the Criminal podcast and Jefferson Graham of USA Today.

All right, that’s about me. Now let’s get to the good stuff.

For Succotash Clips this time around, we’ve for snippets from Big Question, Comedy Film Nerds, Fake The Nation, Here We Are, Monday Morning Podcast, Psycho Pshow, WTF and the most recent entrant into the Podcast Graveyard to date — the Taco Tuesday Podcast, our buddies in Killeen, Texas, who decided to shut it down just this week with their 100th episode.

Add to that a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with political comedian and social commentator Will Durst, whose been all over the Republicant and Democrap Conventions the past couple of weeks, a brand new spot from Henderson’s Pants and we will toss in a little closing ditty from friend-of-Succotash Abner Serd.

CLIPS

WTFI’m reviewing the episode out this week of WTF with Marc Maron, who has Jane Lynch in the garage as his guest. I think she’s hilarious and she also seems pretty level-headed and decent as a person. In this sample from the show, she’s talking about hoW she first met director and comic/actor, Christopher Guest, then later ended up in his Best In Show movie.

Big QuestionOur next clip comes from the Big Question podcast and was submitted directly to us through our direct upload link. The note that accompanied it tells us a bit about the show and goes a little something like this: “Saw your requests for submissions on Twitter and figured that we’d throw our collective hats in the ring. The Big Question podcast has been in operation for slightly over a year and brings a weekly dose of no holds barred comedy and discussion. The four regular hosts are joined by a ever-changing collection of guests where we discuss a mass of topics from having sex with David Cameron for money (epi 2) to flatmates cleanliness problems (epi 33) to the inner workings of gay culture with our regularly occurring friend Rocchi."

Comedy Film NerdsThe other chief source for our clips here on Succotash Clips is our noble Associate Producer Tyson Saner. From his lair in an undisclosed location somewhere where in the northern reaches of California, Tyson is constantly slicing and dicing delectable chunks of podcast goodness. We have several he’s cooked up this week and the first is from the aforementioned Comedy Film Nerds podcast, hosted by Chris Mancini and Graham Elwood. It's from from epi317 back in April, and features guest Geoff Tate.

Monday Morning PodcastAnother show I reviewed for Splitsider this week was the Monday Morning Podcast with Bill Burr. What a funny guy Burr is. And I admire his ability to just hold a mic and freeball his way through an hour without a co-host, a sidekick, or any other sort of production elements. I mean, he can’t read a spot worth a damn but, other than that, he’s on a level that includes Greg Proops and maybe Greg Fitzsimmons back when he occasionally didn’t have a guest. Get up to Splitsider.com if you want to read my review and here’s a snippet from the episode I reviewed, where Bill’s talking about Rudy Guilliani and cops.

Psycho PshowTyson sliced us off a hunk of the Psycho Pshow – both of those words start with “P”, by the way, hence their tagline, “The World’s Worst Named Podcast – which is hosted by VJ, Chaidez and Toly. (No idea if I’m pronouncing those names right, by the way. Except maybe VJ because, really, how can you screw up initials?) I don't even try to describe the conversation in this 5-minute clip. I think they maybe were driving or walking somewhere while they were recording it. I can’t even tell.

Fake The NationThere’s a newUScomedy panel show that revolves around politics and current events. It’s called Fake The Nation and is hosted by Negin Farsad. Every episode she has a couple of comedically-inclined guests to help her comb through the nit and the grit of American and international politics. I mentioned Episode 3 this past week on Splitsider, when the talk was mostly about the political conventions and her guests were Dean Obeidallah and Nato Green.

Here We AreComedians are just curiosity seekers like the rest of us. I mean, with podcast such as Professor Blastoff (may it rest in peace), The Infinite Monkey Cage, Talk Nerdy and many others, the hosts are often comics just looking for answers. Tyson clipped us off some of the Here We Are show, hosted by comedian Shane Mauss. And in his Epi77, Shane talks up music and psychology with guest Daniel Levitin, who is a cognitive psychologist, neuroscientist, best-selling author, musician and record producer.

Taco TuesdayThis past week saw some friends-of-Succotash toss in the virtual towel. Podcast Dan, Adam Wolf and Dave In The Cave over at the Taco Tuesday podcast hung up their mikes. They managed to hang in for their centennial, Epi100, but some siutations with their physical studio space as well as what they perceived as low listenership, finally decided them on closing up shop. Normally we wait until a show’s been in the ground for a year or more before we feature it in the Podcast Graveyard, and I have a feeling these guys will be back in one configuration or another. But for now, we feature — literally — the last few minutes of the podcast that was Taco Tuesday.

Tall Tales & Shaggy Dogs (The May Bee Song)So I got a note from our favorite acapella song stylist, Abner Serd, host of the Tall Tales & Shaggy Dogs podcast. Abner says, “Hi Marc - A few months ago, I tagged you in a song called 'Reflections on a Snowflake,' while acknowledging that it didn't pack as much humor as some of the others. Same goes for this one - it's all yours if you decide to use it, but I understand if it doesn't quite fit. Here is my latest little ditty, called The May Bee Song.”

In closing, I did something this week that I don't think I've done since Succotash kicked off over 5 years ago, and that is take a long, hard look at our download numbers.

Guess what? They suck!

I mean, they're not horrible but they're not the kind of numbers that advertisers drool over. So if I can infringe on your delicate sensibilities to PLEASE get up to iTunes in good haste and give Succotash a 5-star rating and a few sentences of a glowing reviews, I will promise to redouble my efforts to churn out this show on a regular, weekly basis. But it's going to take a team to pull this off, otherwise we might just have to go the way of our friends at Taco Tuesday, bust a gum machine, and get the hell out of here...

— Marc Hershon

]]>58:43yespodcast,the,big,film,joe,comedy,morning,marc,here,bill,tuesday,question,nerds,will,nation,we,pants,are,fake,clips,tyson,monday,taco,psycho,durst,saner,wtf,hendersons,abner,succotash,hershon,paulino,heywatt,serd,pshowSuccotash Epi135: Clippin' AND Chattin'Wed, 29 Jun 2016 16:22:09 +0000Yes, it’s me. Marc Hershon, your host and drought-resistant shrub for Epi135 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. And this is definitely a succotash of an episode. We’ve got snippets from a bunch of comedy podcasts. And we’ve got a couple of interviews. So we’re going to make this a Succotash Clips n’ Chats show. e7mwxq5u

I’ve got a brief chat via the new SpareMin app with Chris Mancini, co-host of the Comedy Film Nerds podcast and co-organizer of the Los Angeles Podcast Festival. We talk a little bit about his Earbuds podcast-oriented documentary, his graphic novel that he just successfully Kickstarted into existence, and Chris and I talk about my upcoming official duties in this year’s 5th edition of the LA Podfest.

Chris Mancini Ned Kenney

I have a longer chat with Ned Kenney, the brains behind Laughable, a new app that is specifically for and about comedy podcasts. Finding them, listening to them, and learning more about the people behind them. I’ve kind of fallen in love with this app and how easy it is to find and download comedy podcasts, which is my stock in trade. Ned talks about why he came up with the idea and what he’s been through to get the thing up and launched.

Podcastwise, on this installment of Succotash, we’ve got clips from Bad Cop, Bad Cop; Horribly Awkward, Irresponsible Mentors, The Naked Porch Podcast, and a long-delayed visit to the Podcast Graveyard where we dig up a show that hasn’t been around for about a year. (Thanks to our Associate Producer Tyson Saner for most of the clips for this week's episode!)

In addition, we’ve got a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with political comedian and social commentator Will Durst, a new song and a Succotash tribute from our a capella singing friend Abner Serd, and a dip into the Tweetsack.

This episode is brought to you by Henderson's 100% Genuine Dungarees, made from real dung.

THE SHOWS

Bad Cop, Bad CopThe first clip for this episode is from Bad Cop, Bad Cop, a show I’ve not heard of before — which is becoming the rule rather than the exception it seems, there are SO many comedy podcasts out there — and was uploaded directly to us by a listener. An unidentified listener. He or she says about Bad Cop, Bad Cop: “One of my favorite shows. It’s hard to pin down a small segment of this show but here it is. These two guys have an infectious giggle and have me PMSL each week.” (I suspect the listener is British, as PMSL stands for “piss myself laughing”, which is the English version of ROFL – Rolling On The Floor Laughing.) The co-hosts of the show are named Jerry and Dave — no last names — who, according to the About blurb on their homesite, are “two guys with pretty bad attitudes."

Horribly AwkwardNormally I have more information about the podcasts that we get the clips from, but sometimes the podcasters are pretty stingy with putting the facts out on their homesites. Take Horribly Awkward, for instance. It took several links to find out that the name of the host is Shaun Fuller. And I didn’t get the last name until I hopped onto the Laughable app and found that he was a guest on the Three Is Comedy podcast. Here’s his description of Horribly Awkward as it appears on Stitcher: “This is my horribly awkward, guest-driven, improvised, comedy and fun filled podcast. Take a ride with me on this journey with a new guest every week!” Tyson pulled this clip from Shaun’s Epi42 when his guests included Brink and Jesus, the co-hosts of the Horrible Gamerz podcast, Brink’s wife Becca, and Rob from Random Ramblings with Rob. I don’t want to say that parts of Podcastland are getting a little incestuous but…ewww.

The Naked Porch PodcastI could have sworn we featured The Naked Porch podcast before but I’ve just been to the Succotash Archives and I just find mentions I made of the show, not any clips at all. So it’s high time, thanks to Tyson, that we rectify that situation. This podcast falls into the “Sittin’ Around And Chewing The Fat” category of podcasts and these three —Chris, Ray, and Danielle — are clearly having a great time without anyone else’s help.

The Irresponsible MentorsTyson clipped this next entry from The Irresponsible Mentors podcast – a title I love - but he didn‘t include a lot of intel. And I have to say, after tracking the hosts back through a few sites, there’s not much out there. Here’s what we know: This is from a “minisode” at the end of May called “Comeback Warriors & Unarmed Gorilla Get’s Shot”. By their cartoon logo, one host is Chip T, the other is SQ BZ. Guess you're meant to discover the rest for yourself.

Tall Tales & Shaggy DogsRather than my usual wrapup, I wanted to feature a recent episode of Abner Serd’s shortform podcast, Tall Tales & Shaggy Dogs. In an episode entitled, "Faraway places (or, What's it like in Lower Shmorgestan?)". which is a story rather than a song, he ends up giving my wrap-up line himself.

Podcast GraveyardThere are SO many podcasts floating around out that, unless you listen to particular ones all the time, you might not even notice when one goes off the radar. Such is the case with The Tobolosky Files. I really enjoyed this show, featuring actor Stephen Tobolosky who, with the help of critic and filmmaker David Chen, would tell stories from his interesting life and unique position of being one of the most legendary modern-day character actors working in film and television. Stephen’s podcast went dark about a year ago,with Epi71 dropping on August 13th, 2015. Here’s a clip from that episode, which was entitled, “If I Know Now What I Knew Then”

If you want to help us out on Succotash, please don't be finger-shy when it comes to clicking on our Donate button at http://SuccotashShow.com. And feel free to pass the Succotash just as much as you like.

Our special guest this episode is none other than our very own raging moderate, political comedian and social commentator Will Durst! Yes! Unbelieveable — after his priceless contributions for the past FOUR years of our Burst O’ Durst segment, I finally managed to wrangle the great man himself into a sit-down.

It really shouldn’t have been that hard to get together with him – we live in the same goddamn city. And we’ve both been appearing periodically together on the same stage the past few years during screening of the 3 Still Standing documentary. It’s about the early days of San Francisco stand-up comedy starting back in the early 1980s boom times, and featuring Will, Larry “Bubbles” Brown and Johnny Steele.

Anyway, it’s a good time to get Will in front of the mic. Every four years we have the Presidential election and Durst blooms like one of those crocus plants, except his comedy is being liberally – or, rather, conservatively — fertilized by Donald Trump’s bullshit. So he’s in rare form.

BACK FROM L.A.

I just got back from LA this past weekend, where I was hosting the kickoff episode of The Carvey Podcast, a new show featuring Dana Carvey and his two sons, Dex and Tom. Their roommate Rickie was also onboard for this inaurgural event, and veteran comedian Barry Sobel jumped in for the last few minutes as well.

Things got a little dicey about a half hour into the proceedings. Dana and I kicked things off and he was really funny. The audience – which wasn’t huge – maybe 20 people in the Improv Lab — was enjoying it. And why not? A lot of them were friends of mine! So Dana had gotten up to make room for the boys at the table on stage. He was moving around to the other side of this standup piano on the side of the stage and… well, to find out what happened next, you're going to have to LISTEN to this episode!

A NEW WAY TO LISTEN

I’ve been using a brand new app that just launched last week in my effort to make listening to comedy podcast episodes easier and easier. It’s called Laughable, and I’m finding it to be pretty handy. I’ll talk about it more on our next Succotash Clips episode and maybe have an interview with the brains behind Laughable — a guy names Ned Kenney — if I get the chance.

DURST…AND MORE DURST

In addition to my chat with Will, we have a double dose of our Burst O' Durst segment, one that plays before the chat, and one that plays after the Tweetsack segment. So strap in!

This episode is brought to you by Henderson's Wake Island shorts. Since most people have trouble tracking down Henderson's Pants, you can also help out Succotash by clicking on the Donate button at the top of our homepage. Or consider festooning yourself in some style of our merch at the Succotashery. Then there's always shopping online at Amazon - just click through to them by clicking on the banner at the top of our page — magic web elves make sure we get a slice of your purchase.

Please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:02:40yespodcast,comedy,marc,will,pants,durst,hendersons,succotash,hershon,tweetsackSuccotash Clips Epi133: Gettin' To It Late…AgainThu, 19 May 2016 13:37:10 +0000Yes, it is I. Marc Hershon, your host and Henry Miller Aeron Desk Chair for Epi133 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. And if you’re having trouble recognizing the voice, that’s because it’s been about THREE damn weeks since I last dropped an installment.

Sorry about that.

I’ll keep striving to get better about it. I’d be lying if didn’t say a few clicks on the old Donate button up at our homesite, http://SuccotashShow.com, wouldn’t help motivate me.

Of if someone besides Henderson’s Pants wanted to help sponsor that show, that would be a bit of all right as well.

NEW PODCAST ALERT!

I wanted to let listeners who might be in range of Los Angeles, California, on Saturday June 11th, that I will be moderating a very cool event — Dana Carvey’s very first podcast. His OWN podcast, that is, which he’ll be doing with his two sons, Dex, and Tom.

You might recall they joined me back in early February for our very first LIVE Succotash show. And they liked the experience so much that the Carveys have decided to bust out their very own show. I don’t know what it’s to be called yet but I was flattered to be asked to be the moderator for the kickoff show on June 11th.

And, who knows, maybe if I behave myself, maybe more after that.

It’s going to be at the Comedy Lab next to the Improv in West Hollywood and that’s all I know. Not sure whether you can buy advance tickets or what. Best I can suggest until I know more is to keep checking in at http://hollywood.improv.com and click on the link to the calendar.

GOT A SPAREMIN?

Another thing I have started trying out is using a new app called SpareMin. It allows folks to call other folks back when they want to and with a five minute time limit. So I thought I might be a fun alternative to our Succotash Hotline because, rather than leaving a voicemail, you use the app to send me a request and when I have time to chat, I call you back.

The app automatically records the call, which I can then play back right here on the show. So check it out. It’s called SpareMin and you can download it from the Apple app store and I think the version for Android phones is live now, too.

WHAT ELSE YOU GOT?

Okay. Enough about me. Let’s talk about what I’ve got for YOU. This is a Succotash Clips episode and I have to mainly thank our erstwhile Associate Producer, Tyson Saner, for supplying the bulk of the clips we have on tap for you this time around.

We also have one that was submitted by a podcaster by using our upload link, at http://hightail.com/u/Succotash. And even I did a little work in the clip department…but not much.

All in all, we’re featuring clips from Awesome Etiquette, Chillpak Hollywood Hour, The Late Show – Tonight’s Watch, Obsessed with Joseph Scrimshaw, Savage Henry, the Schmoozecast, Secret Skin, The Slant, and Wisecrackin’ with Winter. In addition to the clippage we’re featuring a double dose of our celebrated Burst O’ Durst segment with political comedian and social commentator Will Durst.

I also have some exciting news about Mr. Durst: He going to be on Succotash! Not just in his usual short, 2-minutes Bursties of Dursties. Oh, no. Our very next installment of Succotash Chats will feature my face-to-face interview with Will that I held a couple of weeks ago in the green room at the storied Punchline Comedy Club in downtown San Francisco.

Our own Mr. Saner has also supplied us with one of his amazing pieces of music made up of bits and clips from a podcast, Off Yer Feet featuring Todd Glass along with Nick Thune. And Tyson also supplied us with a brand new instrumental track to play under out Celebration of Thanks coming up near the end of the show. (YOu can check out all of his amazing tunage over at SoundCloud.)

This installment of Succotash is brought to you by Henderson's new Beavertail Jeans.

CLIPS

Chillpak Hollywood HourHard to believe but our friends in podcast — Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness, the hosts of Chillpak Hollywood Hour — just kicked off their 10th year of changing the way you listen to the internet, as well as providing middle to high class entertainment for those with the ears to hear it. I’m happy to announce that sometime during Year 9, our false feud came to an end and so we can, once again, bring you a taste of the Chill…

Secret SkinSecret Skinis part of the Infinite Guest network of podcasts, hosted by musician and sometimes comedian Mike Eagle. Mike and his guest usually poke around behind the scenes of the hip-hop world. But recently his guest was comedian Nick Thune, and they got into a lot of topics — why Nick gave up one-liners and his guitar onstage to talk about who Jesus would want to hang out with if he was around today, and embarrassing stories. Nick shares the somewhat disgraceful way he ended his career as a car salesman, and Mike shares a story so embarrassing that, until now, he’s only told four people. And now yo, once you listen.

Awesome EtiquetteIt seems likeAwesome Etiquetteis actually hosted by a couple of folks with some manners in their DNA. Lizzie Post and Daniel Post Senning are with the Emily Post Institute and, for those of you who as so gauche as to not know, Emily Post literately wrote the book on manner and etiquette in 1922. Both hosts don’t have Post in their names by amazing coincidence – it turns out they are the great great grandchildren of the Grand Dame of Manners.

The SlantOur next clip comes directly from the podcasters themselves. They uploaded this to us at our direct upload site, at http://hightail.com/u/Succotash and I wish they’d sent a little more background. They have a Libsyn site and a Facebook page and a Twitter account and — don’t get me wrong, The Slant is constantly retweeting our stuff and they are very supportive — but I just don’t know that much about them. I know that the ringleader is someone named Sal. And there’s Lisa, and Ant, and Christine. There may be more, I can’t tell.

The Late Show — Tonight’s WatchWhat I love most about podcasting is that pretty much anything goes. And I do mean anything. There's a spin-off podcast from The Late Show with Stephen Cobert called Tonight’s Watch. Hosted by Duncan(and his guest, Maester Text-To-Speech, in this episode), It’s a ostensibly a weekly update about HBO’s Game Of Thrones series but…well, you just have to hear it for yourself. (And it's shouldn't be confused with the actualToNight's WatchGOT-following podcast…or maybe it should.)

Wisecrackin’ With WinterOur Associate Producer has unearthed yet another podcast I’ve never heard of, called Wisecrackin’ With Winter. It features Mike Winter, who, according to the podcast’s About page: …bring decades of entertainment experience, including television, radio, and live performances, in his commentary on topics ranging from: challenges of doing stand-up at Ebola clinics, how to win shot a drinking contest with an Authoritarian Dictator, debating the severity of erectile dysfunction (after athletes abuse steroids for years), to trying to figure out how to re-purpose the thousands of discarded jerseys of disgraced football players. What does that all mean? I’m not sure.

The SchmoozecastComedian Barry Weintraub has been working hard to resurrect the Comedy USA name (formerly the title of his national comedy magazine) in several ways. One of those is a comedy podcast called The Schmoozecast. He’s been recording in a sound booth that has been built at Comic Strip Live in New York and recently he had an episode featuring comedian John Mulrooney. John’s a great guy who’s still working today but, when he’s not doing comedy gigs, he works as a patrolman for the Coxsackie Police Department in upstate New York. You can only find episodes of The Schmoozecast at ComedyUSA.com and that’s about it — Barry has yet to master how to get the show up on iTunes. But he will – he’s a very determined fellow.

Savage Henry Magazine Radio ProgramThere's a humor magazine in Arcata, which is in Humboldt County, California, called Savage Henry and, once every couple of weeks, the owner/editor Chris Durant puts out a podcast called the Savage Henry Magazine Radio Program. In the show that Tyson snagged this clip from, he’s joined by “special” co-host Matt Redbeard and guest, comedian Dash Kwiatkowski.

Obsessed with Joseph ScrimshawGot a note from Sarah Meyer, who does press for the podcast Obsessed with Joseph Scrimshaw. She says “Hi there, Me again! 'Obsessed' put out a special Hamilton episode today — I thought I’d send the press release along since you were so helpful back in March! :) If you wanted to feature a clip on Succotash, or write a review for the Huffington Post, that would be amazing! Thanks so much! Sarah.” Thanks for the note, Sarah! Not sure about HuffPo yet but you got a clip on, featuring host Joseph Scrimshaw and his guests Paul & Storm, and Emma Fyffe…

Thanks for reading this blog and (hopefully) listening to the actual podcast. Please take a few moments to rate and review us up on iTunes, and visit our homesite at http://SuccotashShow.com where you can read the blog post that goes with this very episode, buy something from our Succotashery, click our Donate button and give us money, or use the Amazon banner at the top of the page to do your Amazon shopping which helps us out, too.

Don’t forget to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:07:02yesthe,winter,show,late,dana,comedy,podcasts,watch,secret,hollywood,marc,with,awesome,henry,hour,joseph,will,savage,etiquette,pants,skin,clips,durst,tonights,hendersons,obsessed,carvey,chillpak,succotash,hershon,scrimshaw,slant,sparemin,schmoozecastSuccotash Chats Epi132: Philosophizin' with Danny LobellTue, 26 Apr 2016 17:34:12 +0000Like the man
says, it’s me, Marc Hershon. And I’m to be your host and 100%
recyclable container for Epi132 of Succotash, the Comedy
Podcast Podcast. This is actually an edition of Succotash
Chats, the variety of where we feature a conversation instead
of clips, and this time around our Special Guest is Danny
Lobell.

Danny is a
comedian and also the host of the Modern Day Philosophers podcast. He
interviews comedians but It’s a nice twist on the typical talker,
because once they cover some of the usual ground in an interview,
Danny reveals a philosopher that’s been selected for each
particular guest.

He and the
guest then learn about the philosopher at the same time — Danny
keeps himself from knowing who they’re going to talk about by
having his producer, Alex Fossella, select the
philosopher and information about them.

He’s had some
terrific guests since the show’s been on — people like Carl
Reiner, Bill Burr,Jackie
Mason, Maria Bamford, and Lewis
Black. This past week he interviewed Brian
Regan, who I’m a big fan of, and so I thought it would be
fun to talk to Danny about that experience, how he came up with the
concept for Modern Day Philosophers, and stuff like
that.

We play a
couple of clips from his chat with Regan, but you’re probably going
to want to grab the whole interview, which you can do at http://ModernDayPhilosophers.net.

A
DOUBLE DOSE O' DURST

In addition
to this episode’s Chat, we have TWO segments of our
Burst O’ Durst with political comedian & social
commentator Will
Durst, as well as some original tunage from our friend
Abner
Serd, a dip into the Tweetsack and the whole thing is
brought to you by Henderson's Fancy Pants for Fops.

Thanks again
to our special guest, Danny Lobell. And thank to YOU. Yes, YOU. For
downloading or streaming this episode. Appreciate all you do but
we’d love you even more if you’ll visit our homesite,
http://SuccotashShow.com, and click on our Donate button to give us
some of your delicious money to help us keep things podcasty.
Barring that, you can click on the Amazon banner at the top of the
page and do your shopping there that way, which kicks us back a
little something. Or avail yourself of our fine merchandise in the
Succotashery. If all of those options are somehow beyond you, at
the very least, please remember to PLEASE pass the
Succotash!

— Marc
Hershon

]]>01:17:26yesjoe,comedy,modern,brian,marc,bill,day,regan,chat,will,tyson,danny,interaction,lobell,durst,saner,abner,philosophers,succotash,hershon,paulino,heywatt,serdSuccotash Clips Epi131: Rantin' About Podcasters' NamesMon, 11 Apr 2016 00:45:58 +0000Oh, jeez, here I am. Marc Hershon, your host and artificial sweetener for Epi131 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. This is another edition of Succotash Clips, and we have a whole passel of comedy podcast clippage for you.

When I say “we” I mostly mean me because I’m the only one typing up this blog entry. But I also include our booth announcer Bill Heywatt, whom you heard at the top of the show, our Engineer/Producer Joe Paulino, our booth assistant Kenny Durgis, and our delightful Associate Producer Tyson Saner, who discovered and harvested several of the selections you’ll be hearing. And I also include those comedy podcasters who got their clips to us themselves.

Yes, that’s right. If you want to get a clip of your show on our show, and you’re tired of waiting around for either Tyson or me to find you, you can upload a 3-5 minute MP3 clip directly to Succotash by going to http://hightail.com/u/Succotash and following the simple instructions.

Fifth Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival

I got my super early bird 3-day pass for this year’s 5th Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival. It’s toward the end of September – the 23rd thru the 25th. That pass was just 99 bucks and I just checked – ALL the early bird passes are sold out so if you’re going to go, you’re going to be paying full freight. You can get a one day pass or got for all three days. Check out the ticket sitch at http://LAPodfest.com. I’m trying to see if they’ll let me run a panel or be a guest on a panel or even do a live Succotash episode from the festival. We’ll see. At the very least, I’ll go prepared to hold down my usual corner of the Podcast Lab.

In This Episode

Most of clips we have loaded up for this show are from podcasts we’ve not featured before, but there are a couple of familiar faces…or voices, rather. We have snippets from the Cue Plot Device podcast, The Language of Bromance, the Mt. Rushmore podcast, Poop Culture, the SeeSo SeeShow, the ShePod podcast, Sup Doc, This Freakin’ Show, This Is A Podcast and The Unoriginal Podcast.

In addition to the clips, we have a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with political comedian and social commentator Will Durst. Plus another musical piece by Tyson made up by cobbling together audio from the How Did This Get Made? podcast called “Dance Mr. Boogaloo.” (Other selection by Tyson can be found on his SoundCloud page.)There is a pile of things to read in the ol’ TweetSack. And, in honor of Elon Musk’s most recent Space X private rocket launch and landing, this episode of Succotash Clips is brought to you by Henderson’s Space Pants.

Clips

ShepodI think Succotash is beginning to collapse under the sheer weight of podcasts. It’s crazy how many new shows are flocking out of Podcastland. And not so old shows. I’ve recently become acquainted with a show called The Shepod: Brunch with Rachel and Sara (not the bible ones) and it just passed it Epi50 mark without me noticing it until now. The show features two women who aren’t comedians per se, but they are funny as hell – Rachel King and Sara Tenenbein. The latter is some kind of marketing consultant and the former works as a writer and some other kind of consultant.

Sup DocTyson snipped us from Sup Doc, a podcast about documentaries and the documentarians who make them. From Epi26, which I mentioned a few weeks back on Splitsider.com and the Huffington Post, we have part of a conversation with Sup Doc co-host Paco Romane and guest Todd Glass, a very funny comedian and podcaster whom I interviewed during last year’s LA Podfest. The subject of the episode was Bill Maher’s Religulous doc from 2008, all about the craziness of the worlds’ religions.

Cue Plot DeviceNext up is a podcast which I never knew about until they were kind enough to start retweeting some of our stuff a few months back. Often times that’s enough to get our attention so I went to check out Cue Plot Device. It’s hosted by four guys: Dr. G, Yosh the Scientist, The Captain, and Chief — not their real names, I assume. This show falls into the Nerd category, I think, because they cover such things as “cartoons, comics, video games, movies, tv-shows, card games, board games, and much, much more”, according to their homesite. But one of their segments focuses on their title’s subject: Plot devices. Here they delve into Season 2 of Netflix’s Daredevil series.

SeeSo SeeShowWe’re going to go a little meta here. We have clipped and talked about the SeeSo SeeShow podcast a few times previously, hosted by Andrew Stevens. It’s an independent podcast that cleaves very closely, nonetheless, to the relatively new SeeSo streaming comedy channel. In his fourth episode, Steven himself clips an interview with Community creator Dan Harmon which was done on the 100th episode of the Innovation Crush podcast last October.So we're clipping a clip that was clipped for another show. In that episode, Harmon talked at length about the “story circle” technique of story writing.

Mt. RushmoreWe stick with the musical theme for a bit, by way of a clip uploaded directly to us by the guys over at the Mt. Rushmore podcast. According to their homesite, the show features Michael Winfield and Richard Manfredi who argue a lot. Their arguments revolve around what they call the "Mt. Rushmores of Life" — the four things that best represent any particular category. Such as the Mt. Rushmores of Kids’ Cereals. Or the Mt. Rushmores of Fictional Presidents. They then present those arguments to Jeff Hopkins, a comedian, judge and jury, who then passes judgement. The clip that they uploaded to us is from their Epi4: The Mt. Rushmores of One and Done Albums.

Then here is where I started to get a tad "ranty"…

The Language of BromanceThere’s a whole swath of podcasts out there in Podcastland helmed by people that really aren’t looking for personal fame, which you can tell because they don’t use their last names. Of course, it could just be because they don’t want anyone at work — or their parents — to find out. I’m not sure what the case is for Richard and Bruce, the hosts of a show called The Language of Bromance, but they have 93 episodes out there on the podwaves so it’s obviously a serious enough endeavor. (Come on, guys! What are your last names? Drop me an email or a direct message on Twitter and we’ll reveal the information in the next Tweetsack segment.) I’ve got a chunk from their Epi92, entitled "Bros At The Zoo". In this clip they’ve been ruminating about what it would be like if animals came to look at people in what they’re calling a human zoo.

Then I got even rantier…

This Freakin’ ShowOur next show, scooped up by Tyson, is ANOTHER show featuring semi-anonymous hosts. I don’t know why I’ve got a thing aobut this so much this week. People can do what they want. But to me it smacks of the Millenial thing of being anonymous on the internet. Saying shit but not being visible enough for anyone to knock you down for it. That’s not saying that the hosts of This Freakin’ Show are talking shit about anyone. That’s just the name of their podcast. Awesome. By way of thei homesite, the hosts are Travis-T, a Divinity student; Awkward Colin, a Navy veteran; and Geek Show Joe, a podcaster and graduate student. Their thing is the usual territories of chatfest shows: current events, pop culture and then, in the miscellaneous column, “shenanigans that tickle our fancies.” (That must have been written by the graduate student.) And they put their own spin on the commentary which, in this clip, revolves around which — in the wake of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice — has them asking each other which DC Comics characters would they like to see made into a movie.

But then I finally give up…

Poop Culture PodcastOkay, okay. I’m going to give up obsessing on this “no one wants to use their own name” thing. It’s kind of like radio back in the day, when all the on-air personalities had made-up names like Wolfman Jack, Jocko Henderson, and Kid Leo. I guess this is the podcast trend, at least for hosts that aren’t famous comedians or whatever. So let the slack-cutting begin with the Poop Culture Podcast! The hosts are the Boobie Brothers and Mancrush. Clearly their pseudonyms haven’t kept them from getting decent guests on the show. A few episodes back they talked at length to Lloyd Kaufman, the man, the myth and the legend behind Troma Films.

This Is A PodcastAnother selection from Tyson Saner’s bushel basket full of clips comes from a show with the blatant title, This Is A Podcast. Interestingly, there is a second show called This Is A Podcast show listed on iTunes but don’t be fooled – the last episode for THAT show was in September of last year. (Another few months without a fresh installment and that show will be eligible for the Podcast Graveyard segment…) But THIS version of This Is A Podcast, hosted by Thomas Allie and Kristi Diaz, who are described as “20-something young lovers” on the Stitcher website, say that they poke fun at the of the world in a way that most wouldn’t.

The Unoriginal PodcastThe next clip comes from a show that’s begun passing the Succotash, meaning retweeting our Succotash tweets on Twitter and we love that. It’s called the Unoriginal Podcast, which is very honest but not very original, as it turns out, because there’s The Original Unoriginal Podcast, as it’s called but which stopped putting out new ‘sodes back in 2012. (A definite candidate for the Podcast Graveyard. If we only had the time this week we’d do it. Next time…) Anyway, THIS Unoriginal Podcast hails from Ireland and features Ciara, Dayo, and Fredi. They’re only five episodes in and don’t seem to have a proper homesite yet. This slice is from their Epi4, entitled, “The One with The Shenanigans?" There’s that word again. What’s the deal with “shenanigans”?

Before I sign off, I wanted to kindly suggest you visit our homesite at http://SuccotashShow.com and help to keep us in business by clicking on the Donate button there and tossing us a few bones. Or use the Amazon banner at the top of that same page next tim eyou want to buy something from Amazon – we get a li’l taste of that. Or buy some of our merch from the Succotashery.

Other than those things, I got nuthin’. Except this: Please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:15:03yespodcast,the,of,show,comedy,a,is,this,language,culture,marc,mt,cue,poop,clips,device,bromance,doc,sup,plot,rushmore,succotash,hershon,freakin,unoriginal,seeso,seeshow,shepodSuccotash Clips Epi130: Podquestin' with Julie ShapiroThu, 24 Mar 2016 16:16:16 +0000Yes, it’s me again – Marc Hershon – your host and commemorative beer stein for Epi130 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. And I got a passel of comedy podcast clips for you. Our ace associate producer Tyson Saner harvested some. I found a couple. And we got some uploaded directly to us from podcasters themselves, using the upload link at http://hightail.com/u/Succotash.

Podquest

If you think you have a cool idea for a new podcast, don’t keep it to yourself. I’m saying you should tell me about it either, but you’re going to want to hang in for my chat with Julie Shapiro, who’s the executive producer with the Radiotopia network — they’ve got a baker’s dozen of shows occupying podcastland, including 99% Invisible, The Memory Palace, Song Exploder, and Mortified. But they're looking for more and they want a show that no one is doing yet. So if YOU have an idea for a show, or are doing a show that’s been bumping around, cloaked in obscurity, Radiotopia is sponsoring Podquest, the search to find that show. Julie and I talk about the contest and how you can get your concepts in front of their ears.

What's Up

I’ll tell you whose clips we have on the show in a moment, but you should also know that we’ve got our Burst O’ Durst with political comedian and social commentator Will Durst. Our show's brought to you by Henderson's new Hooray For Hollywood Pants, and we have a dip into the Tweetsack, where we FINALLY Have a couple of recorded calls from our Succotash Hotline. Plus I’ve got Cursed, a really cool musical piece that Tyson put together using bits and piece from The Todd Glass Show. Our Associate Producer continues to amaze me with his talents. And we have a SECOND musical piece from our acapellanist, Abner Serd, who brings us a seasonally-appropriate tune called Joe Mann, the Self-Rolling Snowman.

The Clips

As for the actual shows that we’re featuring clips from this time around: Cave Crew Radio, I Am Rapaport, Local Ass Bitches, Loud & Obnoxious, Obsessed, The Potato Bureau, Russell & Mudtooth, The Sketch Comedy Podcast Show, and Spontaneanation.

As a blanket thing, the podcasts that we get our clips from can be found at their homesites — click on each show's title to be whisked there instantaneously — as well as on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, and a number of other podcast distribution points on the World Wide Web.

I Am Rapaport: Stereo PodcastI caught actor Michael Rapaport on WTF with Marc Maron this past week. You might know him from his work – he’s been in over 60 movies and TV projects, starting with Zebrahead through last year’s Little Boy movie. He had a great arc on the second-to-last season of TV’s Justified, too. He and his best friend, Gerald Moody, kick out fresh episodes of the I Am Rapaport: Stereo Podcast every week, or maybe it’s twice a week. Rap and G, as they call each other, shoot from the hip on a variety of topics. I actually met Michael years ago, when I used to hang out at the Improv in LA, because he did, too – his sister’s step-father was one of the owners. Anyone, he always seemed a decent guy and I like what he has to say on his p’cast. A word of warning if you don’t like profanity — Rap and G speak the language of the streets. Oh, and they also take a certain measure of pride in the fact that they don’t fact-check their spew.

SpontaneanationTyson grabbed us a clip from Epi49 of Spontaneanation, the latest podcast from the brain of one of the hardest-working men in podcasting, Paul F. Tompkins. It’s a completely improvised show, with a rotating cast of guest friends and performers. On the episode this clip is from, Paul’s guests are Cameron Esposito, Shulie Cowen, Brandon Johnson, and Chris Tallman. I’m a big fan of Paul F. but then, who isn’t?

Potato BureauOne of our upload savvy listeners is Corky Kneivel, he of the Potato Bureau podcast. This week he shot us a scene clipped from their Epi2, featuring Court Hansen as the guy getting his dishes back, Molly Doan as “Darren” (the screw up), Corky's playing Darren’s brother, with Michelle Petro is the security guard who — spoiler alert — gets killed. The way the Potato Bureau "gimmick" works is that the scenes are somehow inspired by each episode's musical guest, which is where the sketch in this clip sprang from…)

Loud & ObnoxiousAnother clip that was uploaded directly to us this episode comes from the crew over at Loud & Obnoxious — Korey H., D-Brew, Producer Dave, and Halfpint. First off, how can you NOT listen to a clip featuring someone named Halfpint, right? They’re part of the MenRule Network. Here’s their description of their show that’s up on iTunes: “They are four guys that don't apologize for speaking the truth. Each week they discuss movies, news stories, beer, politics, and sports. They also have their intern, Halfpint, do things that he is very uncomfortable with including karaoke and talking to girls.”

Sketch Comedy Podcast ShowTyson clipped us something from a recent epi of the Sketch Comedy Podcast Show, which is about as descriptive a title as you can get in a podcast title. Also maybe a bit misleading, as the description for the show says it’s “Lightly scripted and improvised.” The hosts are Alisha Holland and Stuart Rice and the show booms out of Portland, Oregon.

ObsessedThis next clip was ripped from the Tweetsack, having been dropped in therebySarah Meyer who writes “I really enjoy your podcast reviews and I hope it’s not taking a liberty, but I’d LOVE it if you could take a listen to a comedy podcast I co-produce — 'Obsessed with Joseph Scrimshaw.'" It’s over on the on the Feral Audio network. The title is a little deceptive because it isn’t a show about an obsession with Joseph Scrimshaw — he’s the host and he talks to guests about their obsessions. In this case, the obsession is podcasts and the guest is Dustin Marshall, the founder and maniac behind the Feral Audio network, host to such shows as Harmontown, The Duncan Trussell Family Hour and Obsessed with Joseph Scrimshaw. Also, this is Joseph’s 100th episode of Obsessed, so congratulations!

Russell & MudtoothTyson clipped us off a hunk of the Russell & Mudtooth Show from the Radio Random Network. It features Russell Devlin McLain (or #RDM, as he’s socially mediatroducing himself these days), and Mudtooth. To me, “Mudtooth” is WAY more interesting a name than hashtag-anything, but maybe that's just me. This show drops every Friday and #RDM, who is a musician, tears up the country music scene, music in general, as well as sports, current events, etc., etc. with his pal Mudtooth. In this sample of the show, Mudtooth goes off on a tear about the most recent Oscars.

Cave Crew RadioIn case you haven’t figured it out on your own, podcasters are not the only ones who can upload their clips to the show. If you are a LISTENER to a comedy podcast that you enjoy, you are cordially welcome to upload a clip, too! That’s exactly what Stuart Ramsden did recently when he uploaded us a chunk of Cave Crew Radio, which is great. Because who knows how long it have taken us to discover the hosts, DK and Big B on our own? And the show has been going for a tad over a year. (So way to take the inish, Stuart!) In this clip the talk is about Valentines and giving stuff up for Lent.

Local Ass BitchesOur friend Davian Dent— host of the soon-to-be-defunct The Bitter Sound podcast and co-host of The Strange Times podcast — has sent in a promo of a show he enjoys:Local Ass Bitches, a comedy podcast I’d not heard before. Davian must really like the show, because he knows I’m not a fan of playing promos. He uploaded it directly to us via out Hightail link and he says, “Four best friends from Chicago talk politics, sex, dating and everything in between! Born, raised and living on the NW Side – Lisa, Manny, Nora and Rosa are the epitome of Local Ass Bitches, a term coined by one of their comedic favorites, Kevin Hart, which now has its own definition in the urban dictionary. They also win the Davian Dent Award for being the sexiest mofo's in podcasting...”

That’s it, friend. The Succotash tank is empty for another week or so. You can help us to keep the show going by clicking on the Donate button at our http://SuccotashShow.com homesite. Or else go there and click on the Amazon banner at the top of the page And visit the Succotashery, also accessible though the website, where you can get some garments or other gewgaws festooned with the snappy Succotash logo.

Even if you can’t afford to give us any of your hard-earned money, the least you could do it to tell your friends about our show. And, in exchange, I give you a hearty thanks for passing the Succotash!

I hope you enjoyed the most recent installment, Epi128, our live recording from the Comedy Lab at the Improv in West Hollywood. Dana Carvey, his sons Dex and Tom, and comedian Wayne Federman were our guests. I’m not real handy with figuring out the metrics on the show but I THINK it’s our most downloaded show so far since we started Succotash almost 5 years ago.

This episode is another Succotash Chats version, and my special guests are Rufus Penzance and Howard Long — the writers, producers, and actors of The ManBuyCow Podcast from England.

Rufus and Howard play the two main characters, named Rufus and Howard, on the show, as well as every other character on the show, and they are just kicking off Season 3 of ManBuyCow this week on Comedy.co.uk, iTunes, Stitcher and SoundCloud.

I’m a big fan of of this show and these guys and it was a treat chatting with them. If you’re thinking of getting into podcasting, comedy or otherwise, I think you’ll be inspired by their story as they’ve had to teach themselves every aspect of what they do on the show – writing and performing not just comedy but music, figuring out all the equipment and figuring out how to get it distributed.

ALSO IN THIS EPISODE

We have a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with political comedian and social commentator Will Durst, a classic Henderson's Pants commercial and the Tweetsack is back! Which means we'll be getting to your cards and letters…or, rather, your tweets and emails.

THAT'S IT

Boom. That’s what we've got for you this week. But it's an hour's worth of show, so kick back, push those earbuds in and hit Play.

Remember to check out the all-new Season 3 kickoff episode of the ManBuyCow podcast. And if you’d like to help us to keep the equipment on here at Studio P and Studio F, it wouldn’t hurt you click our cheerful blue Donate button on our homesite, at http://SuccotashShow.com. Which is also where, incidentally, you can click on the Amazon banner at the top of the page and help us out by purchasing something at the world’s largest everything store. And we have a fully stocked Succotashery, with t-shirts, hats, coffee mugs and more, all festooned with our several Succotash logos.

Thanks for listening and don’t forget — wherever you go, whatever you do — thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:00:43yespodcast,comedy,marc,bill,rufus,howard,will,pants,clips,durst,hendersons,succotash,hershon,heywatt,manbuycowSuccotash Chats Epi128: Livin' It Up At The ImprovTue, 01 Mar 2016 14:40:03 +0000Yes, this is Marc Hershon, your host and non-fat dried milk for Epi 128 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. And this is the very first episode of the show to be recorded in front of a LIVE audience! It all went down on Friday, February 5th, at the Comedy Lab, the tiny showroom next door to the world famous Improvisation in West Hollywood, California.

Friend-of-SuccotashRick Overton was slated to be on the show as well, but had to bail as he got cast in an episode of HBO's Veep literally the night before and had to be on set shooting at the same time we were doing the podcast.

I want to thank the Sideshow Network's Shawn Marek and his crew for inviting us in and making the whole thing come together. As well as the folks who showed up to watch — 6 PM on a Friday night in LA is a sketchy time to pull off a show and we did it. (I will not be thanking the LA Parking Authority, which slapped me with a $63 ticket because the show ran 10 minutes too late for me to feed my meter…)

Suffice it to say, between airfare, the rental car, and the parking tickets, and the dinner I bought some of our guests afterward, this was the most expensive episode of Succotash to date. Which seems a dandy time to remind you that there are several ways to help support the show:

• Click on the Amazon banner at the top of http://SuccotashShow.com and we get a slice off anything that you might happen to purchase during that shopping trip

• Click on the link to The Succotashery at http://SuccotashShow.com, purch some merch, and festoon yourself with our logo

If money's an issue, you can give us moral support by clicking over to iTunes to rate and review us, Like our page on Facebook, Follow @SuccotashShow on Twitter, "heart" us on SoundCloud and, whenever you get the chance, whether you're with friends, family, co-workers, or total strangers, please remember to pass the Succotash!

Yes, it is I – Marc Hershon – your host and 100% recyclable container for Epi 127 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. We’re back to the clippage this time, with a fully loaded Succotash Clips show.

We’ve got a full rack of comedy podcast clips ready to roll, from the Bertcast, BrianTALKS, Buffet Kings, Now That I’m Older, Push The Button, Rick & Paul Heal The World, Screams & Moans, Sup Doc, Wicked Theory, and You Made It Weird. We’ve also got a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with our resident political comic, correspeondent, and commentator Will Durst, plus a classic spot from our sponsor, Henderson's Pants.

THE CLIPS

BertcastOur Associate Producer Tyson Saner clipped us off a chunk of the Bertcast, hosted by comedian Bert Kreischer. Bert’s a funny guy and I love his appearances on Doug Loves Movies, especially when that insane laugh of his get going, all girlish and giggly. He tours the comedy clubs a lot but he also cranks out the episodes. This is from back in December, Epi150, when he had comedian Jimmy Tingle on the ‘cast.

Now That I’m OlderAnother clip from Tyson’s harvest comes to us from the Now That I’m Older podcast, hosted by Ken Baldwin and Shane Smith. The general premise for the show is that getting older sucks but can also be awesome at the same time. The two host like to poke fun – at the world at large as well as each other. And they occasionally review movies. The clippage is from Epi47 from December, and features Shane going off on the worst part of his telemarketing job.

Sup DocI think I mentioned the title of this next podcast we’re featuring when it first came out, for two reasons. The first is that one of the co-hosts, Paco Romane, is a comedian and actor in San Francisco whom I happen to know. The second reason is the close connection our shows’ titles have – ours, of course, is Succotash, as in “Sufferin’ succotash”, the catchphrase of Warner Brothers’ cartoon cat, Sylvester. Paco and his compadre in podcasting, George Chen, run Sup Doc, which may sound a lot like Bugs Bunny’s “What’s up, doc?” tagline. Like our show, theirs has nothing to do with those characters. Sup Doc is a podcast that looks at film documentaries. I’ve been hanging onto this clip for a few months because I wanted to see the film they were talking about first, which is Going Clear, the somewhat chilling doc about Scientology. Their guest in this show, Epi16, is Jamie DeWolf, who is also the great-grandson of none other than Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard.

You Made It WeirdNext episode we’ll feature our live recording made at The Improv in Los Angeles, featuring Dana Carvey among other guests. Tyson clipped an episode of Pete Holmes’ You Made It Weird from the end of December 2014 that featured Mr. Carvey in a long episode. In this snippet, Dana thinks on Lorne Michaels and also Paul McCartney in the year before SNL’s 40th anniversary.

BryanTALKSI first learned of the BryanTALKS podcast from a note that host Bryan Cain-Jackson dropped into the Tweetsack. (By note I mean “tweet” and by “Tweetsack” I mean “Tweetsack”.) He wanted to know if I’d had a chance to check out his brand new podcast, which I hadn’t. But I did after that and I liked what I heard! Part sketch, part news, part reaction to the news, and interviews makes for a well-rounded show with a decent sound. Bryan seems to be connected – this clip comes from his recent episode, where he was hanging on the set with the entire cast of NBC’s show Undateable.

Rick & Paul Heal The World, A Comedy PodcastThanks to our man Tyson, we have a clip from a podcast called Rick & Paul Heal The World. Sounds like a tall order. I can’t find the last names of these guys anywhere, which certainly limited their liability if they DON’T end up healing the world. Just to get you back in the holiday mood, this clip is from just before last Christmas where Rick & Paul explore the pain and misery of holiday shopping.

I wanted to play a clip from a podcast by a longtime supporter and friend-of-Succotash, Megan Moen. I only knew her by her Twitter handle for a long time, @podcastwhore, but it’s already been two years since she kicked off her Screams & Moans podcast. So congrats, Megan! Her guest in her 36th episode is Wayne Baglin, whose own podcast, The Crunch Time Show, is — I think — in the Podcast Graveyard, but who was also an inspiration to her getting started.

Buffet KingsWe got a note to check out a show from Adelaide, Australia, called The Buffet Kings. So of course we did. Byt their pictures on the SoundCloud page for this show, the three hosts — Matt O’Brien, Matt Rix, and Luke Verharen — are are “gentlemen of proportion” (to use a phrase a tailor once used on me when fitting me for a tuxedo.) This clip is from their second episode, where they obviously feel they are in a position to chat about how funny can directly translate to body mass…or not.

Push The ButtonAssociate producer Tyson Saner clipped off a bit of the Push The Button podcast, hosted by David Vox Mullen and Mr. Anderson. They chat it up about a bunch of different things and, in this clip, they’re talking about the bru-ha-ha that kicked up this past holiday season over Starbucks changing the design of their holiday cups.

Wicked TheoryOne of our awesome Twitter supporters is Bill Sweeney, one of the hosts and the producer of the Wicked Theory podcast. So I thought it was high time we played a clip from a recent episode. He’s joined by his buddy Dom, his brother Bob and NOT by his buddy Ed, who called in sick. The Wicked Theory guys cover a lot of shows and movies and comics and stuff in every episode, so they’re packed with nerdy goodness. Or goody nerdness.

That’s going to put the bow on this edition of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. If you have any desire to help a brother out, there are 99 things wrong with our website but our Donate button isn’t one of them. Works just fine. As does our Amazon banner at the top of the page. Click that sucker, buy something on Amazon, the world’s largest anything store, and we get a tasty kickback. Or buy yourself a Succo-t-shirt, mug or other gewgaw at the Succotashery, easily accessible at the aforementioned http://SuccotashShow.com.

— Marc Hershon

P.S. I want to leave you with a reminder that our very next episode is not just a Succotash Chats installment, but it was recorded live at the Improv in Los Angeles. Our guests were Dana Carvey, his sons Dex and Tom, and Wayne Federman. Our announcer Bill Heywatt even made the trek to LA along with me to be at The Comedy Lab in West Hollywood. So subscribe today if you don't already so you won't miss it when it drops

]]>01:06:10yespodcast,the,paul,comedy,you,it,world,theory,older,marc,bill,weird,kings,will,that,buffet,im,made,wicked,clips,rick,now,button,push,heal,screams,doc,sup,durst,succotash,hershon,heywatt,bertcast,briantalks,moansSuccotash Chats Epi126: We Got We Got ThisMon, 01 Feb 2016 07:48:30 +0000Hello, everybody. Yes, it is me – Marc Hershon – your host and no deposit, no return container for Epi 126 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. I THOUGHT this was going to be an edition of Succotash Clips. I mean, our Associate Producer Tyson Saner has harvested a bunch of beauts and I have some I’ve scraped up off the podcast factory floor as well. But I’ve been so pressed for time in the “real world”, with my job, and side projects, that I haven’t had time to cobble them all together decently.

So, instead, I’m proud to bring you another installment of Succotash Chats, where we talk to interesting podcasters, comedians, comedian/podcasters, and other show biz folk.

SUCCOTASH LIVE!

Before I get into the guts of THIS show, I wanted to let you know about the special LIVE recording of a Succotash Chats we’re doing this coming Friday night, February 5th, in Los Angeles! That’s right. LIVE at The Comedy Lab next door to the world famous Improv on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood!

My very special guests will be Dana Carvey, Rick Overton, and Wayne Federman — all past guests on this show — and even Bill Heywatt, our esteemed booth announcer, is making the trip to be on this episode. There’s also a good chance that Mr. Carvey will be joined by his two sons, Dex and Tom, who are also now doing comedy and busily immersing themselves in the Hollywood experience.

If you’re in the area, tickets are FREE, but the catch is they are only available at the door – nothing in advance – and when they’re gone, that’s it. The Comedy Lab holds 60 seats. You CAN get more information about the show at http://hersh.co/SuccotashLive020516. If you’re driving and can’t jot that down, visit out homesite, at http://SuccotashShow.com, and click on the show link in the blog entry for THIS show you’re listening to right now.

WE GOT THIS

But that’s then – days away. Right NOW is when you’re listening to this, and our special guestS this episode – that’s right, GUESTS, plural — are Hal Lublin and Mark Gagliardi. You probably know those names best from their time served on the Thrilling Adventure Hour, stage show and podcast. But for the past year they’ve been doing their own thing, their own very fun thing, the podcast called We Got This.

The guys were recently in San Francisco for the 15th editon of our annual Sketchfest here. We've spoken with Hal for the past three years but this time I was able to sit with both of them and talk about their show and a number of the other fascinating projects they're each involved with. PLUS the gents indulged me and did a mini-version of what they do on their show when I asked them to decide which was better for our show: Clips or Promos. Their decision was swift and, as you'll hear them declare, binding.

WAIT…THERE'S MORE!

In addition to our interview with Hal and Mark, we’ve got a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst with political comedian and social commentator Will Durst, a new weird song from our friend Abner Serd (accompanied this time out by friend Kitten Caboodle), and an abbreviated version of the Tweetsack, our exclusive segment looking at tweets, emails and the like. And this episode is brought to you by Henderson's Pants and their line of Bitchin' Britches trousers.

A LITTLE HELP?

Just a reminder that this show happens through the good graces of your generosity. And there are several ways to lavish us with your largess. Simply by clicking through to our homesite, at http://SuccotashShow.com, you can click on the friend Donation button, or shop at Amazon through their banner at the top of our page (which automatically shaves off a tiny percentage of whatever you happen to buy on that visit and pops it into our pocket…) OR you can shop in our Succotashery for t-shirts, mugs and the like with our logo and other Succotash-related stuff.

That's everything we have in store for you this episode. Thanks again to our special guests Hal Lublin and Mark Gagliardi. And don’t forget the LIVE recording of Succotash coming up THIS Friday, February 5th, at The Comedy Lab next to the Improv on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood! My guests will be Dana Carvey, Rick Overton, and Wayne Federman.

If we don’t see you there, we’ll see you here – or wherever it is you got this episode from – next time. Until then, thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>51:41yesthe,mark,dana,comedy,this,los,angeles,lab,marc,wayne,will,we,got,rick,hal,durst,gagliardi,abner,federman,carvey,overton,succotash,hershon,lublin,serdSuccotash Chats Epi125: Makin' Time for Michael Ian BlackWed, 13 Jan 2016 07:52:38 +0000Yes, it’s me – Marc Hershon – your host and pre-brush dental rinse for Epi 125 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. This is another edition of Succotash Chats, which means no clips — except for clips related to our interview — and I am VERY excited. Our Special Guest is Michael Ian Black, and I couldn’t be happier.

I’ve been angling to try to get Michael — or “Magic”, as Tom Cavanagh, his co-host on the Mike And Tom Eat Snacks podcast, refers to him. I have to tell you that we don’t have a very long interview with Mr. Black, but I’m happy to be able to bring you what we got.

I caught him on his cell phone, on the run doing business in New York, so let’s be thankful I got some kind of time with him in time for this episode.

Recently, I reviewed Michael’s podcast How To Be Amazing, the two-part episode with David Sedaris, for the Huffington Post — so be sure to use the link and check that out. HTBA is just one of the three ongoing podcasts that he is involved with, including TOPICS with Michael Showalter and the aforementioned Mike And Tom Eat Snacks.

Be sure to check out Michael new book! It's called Navel Gazing: True Tales of Bodies, Mostly Mine (but also my mom's, which I know sounds weird), and you can get it just by clicking on the Amazon banner at the top of our http://SuccotashShow.com website and typing in Michael's name. (Then we get a little kickback!)

What Else

In addition to our interview with Michael Ian Black, we’ve got a Burst O’ Durst with political comedian and social commentator Will Durst giving out his predictions for 2016, and a dip into the Tweetsack, our exclusive segment looking at tweets, emails and the like. This episode is brought to you by Henderson’s Pants new Parachute Pants, in a spot written for us by Harry White.

Succotash Goes Live-ish!

I am really amped up about our upcoming and first recording of a Succotash show in front of an LIVE audience! That’s right. Thanks to friend-of-Succotash Shawn Marek, we're taking over The Comedy Lab at THE Improv in Los Angeles – the main flagship Improv club, the one on Melrose Avenue, right there in West Hollywood! We'll be there on Friday, February 5th, from 6 to 7 PM. And our Special Guests will be Dana Carvey, along with his two sons, Dex and Tom, and also our old friend, Rick Overton! Plus our booth announcer Bill Heywatt will be joining us as well!

The Comedy Lab holds 60 seats and this is going to be a first-come, first-serve sort of deal. Tickets are FREE, but you can’t get anything in advance — it’s all at-the-door. You CAN get more information about the show at http://hershco.co/SuccotashLive020516. This should really be something!

That's All, Folks!

For this epi, anyway. I think this may be the shortest Succotash episode every, other than our halfisodes. We'll be back next time with a chock-full Succotash Clips show. Until then, thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>44:12yesand,black,mike,how,to,michael,eat,tom,marc,be,will,ian,amazing,snacks,topics,durst,succotash,hershon,tweetsackSuccotash Clips Epi124: Clippin' In The New YearMon, 04 Jan 2016 22:31:36 +0000Happy New Year! It IS me, Marc Hershon, your host and New Year’s baby for 2016. And this is Succotash, The Comedy Podcast Podcast. It’s the first edition of Succotash Clips for this new year, and we have a fine passel of clippage for you.

Before we get into the nit and the grit of what’s in store this time around, I thought I’d check in to see how many of you Succotashians are also Resolutionaries. You know, those folk who steadfastly trot out a litany of resolutions for the new year. New leaves that they are bound and determined to turn over this time for sure, only to almost immediately start backsliding furiously on their self-commitments.

I tend to go pretty low key and achievable with the resolutionary action, mostly because I know, after being around as long as I have, I’ve got a pretty good idea how low to set the bar in order to clear it.

My first resolution is one I’ve been kicking off the past ten years or so with, and that’s to go without regular coffee or any other form of caffeine for one month. I LOVE coffee – its aroma, its flavor and its effects. But I know it’s not all good in term of the way you feel if you miss your morning cup so I’ve taken this step to purge my system of caffeine and its residual cravings for 31 days. Achievable!

The other one is exercise. I’m actually pretty good with this one, to the point that this is actually a resolution to continue my exercise regimen, not jump start it. To help out, I’ve signed up for a 10K race in April, so I just need to press a little harder and I should be ready for that. Achievable!

Regarding Succotash, well, I’m just going to shoot for bigger and better this year.

I’ve arranged with our friend Shawn Merek to put on the first LIVE epi of Succotash just one month from now. That’s right. Friday night, February 5th, at 6 PM at the Improv Lab on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. I’m still firming up the details and will have more information for you shortly, but we’ll have some amazing guests and a lot of fun that night.

But we’re also aiming to have a lot of fun right NOW. We've got clippage from the Hobcast with Hob the Troll, How To Be Amazing, The Mike Jolitz Show, The New Hollywood Podcast, The Potato Bureau, River City Rant, Royal & Doodall, The Cure, and Victrola!

We, of course, will be looking into the Tweetsack for your tweets and emails. But no Burst O’ Durst this time around. Our friend Will Durst has been off, touring the Bay Area with his Big Fat Year-End Kiss-Off Show. If you need your Fix O' Durst, please visit his website at http://WillDurst.com or check out his tweets @WillDurst on Twitter. (And the Burst will be back next episode!)

The Clips

How To Be AmazingWe’ve clipped podcasts featuring Michael Ian Black as a host before – like Mike And Tom Eats Snacks and TOPICS. But he’s had a new one out for the past year called How To Be Amazing, where his guests are mostly authors and he picks there brains about their backgrounds, their careers, and how they do what they do so well. I just reviewed his recent two-part interview with author David Sedaris for Huffington Post this past week. Very entertaining and enlightening interview, so I thought we’d pull a nice clip out of it.

The New Hollywood PodcastI’ve got a clip from The New Hollywood podcast, hosted by friend-of-Succotash Brian Flaherty. Brian’s been getting some great guests on his show and most recently he chatted it up with Paula Pell, a very funny writer who’s been on-staff at SNL since 1995, produced and wrote on 30 Rock, wrote the screenplay Sisters, which Tina Fey and Amy Poehler starred in, and on and on. In the clip we're featuring, she relates to Brian what her first few days moving out to Los Angeles was like. I’m kinda surprised she survived.

Victrola!Another podcast I recently reviewed was Victrola!, which is the namesake of a plucky little troupe from Austin’s Coldtowne Theater. They rolled out a first eight episodes of their monthly show in 2015, and they promise to return for a second season. The shows are all written by and starring Michael Jastroch, Bob McNichol, Bryan Roberts, Lance Gilstrap, Cortnie Jones and Jericho Thorp. In December, they’d dropped a compilation show, with sketches from the first eight epis, and here’s one of them — a riff on Jurassic World.

The CureOur next clip was sent in using our direct upload link at http://hightail.com/u/Succotash by Terrell, one-half of the crew at The Cure podcast. He writes: Hey, Thanks for Following @Thecurepodcast on Twitter. We decide to use your service and we already have a intro. However its not 3-5 min long. Its about 2 min hopefully this would suffice. If not we will create another intro next week. Thanks, Terrell I DM’d him back to let him know that we’re not that keen on playing packaged promos and that we prefer straight up clips, but after listening to what he sent in on behalf of his co-host, Marcus, and himself, I think this works just fine.

Royal & DoodallIf you felt a disturbance in The Force the past couple of weeks, that wasn’t the new Star Wars movie opening, it was the return of the Royal & Doodall podcast. After some time away from the mics, Tommy Royal and Angus Doodall are back. Where have they been? What have they been doing? Well, you’ll have to download and subscribe to their podcast for the intimate details but here’s a snippet of R&D banter to give you a taste.

HobcastWe haven’t chatted up our friend Hob The Troll lately, the purveyor of The Hobcast. But I do chat with him every so often on Twitter and occasionally on Facebook. That’s how I know about his recent Christmas special. The Hobcast has been a little…off-schedule during 2015, but Hob got it together enough to produce a fun little holiday episode where he placed phone calls to some folks. Some of those people apparently donated money for the opportunity to hear from Hob but this clip doesn’t come from one of those calls…

River City RantUploading clips directly to us is not the only way for comedy podcasters to get their stuff on the show, of course. I harvest a bunch of clips myself, our Associate Producer Tyson Saner is busy slicing and dicing clips as well, and you can also email a 3-5 minute MP3 clip into our Tweetsack at marc@SuccotashShow.com. That’s what they did over at the River City Rant podcast and, to prove it, here’s the letter that came with the clip: “Marc, I heard you on Dave's Comedy-a-go-go podcast and you were a great guest. I think your podcast idea is such a unique idea and really helpful to helping others weave thru all that's out there. Our Podcast "River City Rant" is dubbed an irresponsible comedy podcast where we simply just rip on anything and everything, one of our favorite segments we do is called Worst Characters, where two of us throw out voices in an improv format. I hope you enjoy and use this clip as we feel it's one of our best. Thank you, Britt Crumley, River City Recordings Radio, Jacksonville, Florida” Thank you, Britt. Without further ado, here’s a sampling of River City Rant.

The Potato BureauOnce upon a time there was a show out of Sacramento, California, called the Van Full of Candy podcast. Fresh episodes stopped showing up in the early months of last year but the guys connected to it – a bunch of sketch and improv performers – have branched out in new and different ways AND other podcasts. We featured a clip from STAB! back in the fall and now here’s a clip from another show called the Potato Bureau. Fun concept – let me read from their iTunes description: The Potato Bureau is a musically-inspired improv podcast, recorded live at the Sacramento Comedy Spot. Every show features a local musician or group performing on stage for the audience. They give the Bureau a few songs and stories, and the Bureau uses those nuggets of inspiration to take you on a (sometimes crazy) audible journey. The cast of the Potato Bureau is Corky McDonnell, Zach Coles, Tina Jett, Eric Barger, Michell Petro, Molly Doan, and Court Hansen. Here’s a sample of what they sound like in action…

The Mike Jolitz ShowWhen I guest on other podcasts, like Dave Nelson’s Comedy A-Go-Go show, I often talk about how one of the shining benefits of the medium of podcasting is that the barrier of entry is so low that pretty much anyone can do it. You just need a mic, something to record with, a smattering of knowledge how to get what you record online, and an idea for the show. A lot of the shows we clip are hosted by comedians or other well-known entertainers and it’s clear some of those production budgets are decently sized. I was recently DM’ing with Mike Jolitz on Twitter and he’s a one-man operation, that podcasting-from-the-kitchen-table model. I’m not sure what the size of his listenership is yet and he’s still feeling his way into his sound. So I thought we’d give him a shout out and play a clip from The Mike Jolitz Show. Here he is, giving his take on the news…

That’s going to do it for Epi124 of Succotash Clips. Thanks for listening, or whatever it is you might do while I’m talking and playing clips. Fingers crossed that upcoming Epi 125 is a Succotash Chats show and my guest will hopefully be Michael Ian Black. We’ve never met but we both wrote movies identically titled Wedding Daze. He directed his and mine was on TV, and they both currently have 5.7 stars on IMDB. We’ll talk about that and more so be sure to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>54:24yespodcast,the,new,river,show,mike,comedy,how,to,bureau,hollywood,city,marc,with,be,cure,amazing,clips,potato,royal,rant,troll,succotash,hershon,doodall,hob,hobcast,jolitz,victrolaSuccotash Chats Epi123: Speakin' with Wayne FedermanWed, 23 Dec 2015 14:19:19 +0000Ho, ho, ho! Yes, it’s me, Marc Hershon. Your host and Santa Claus for Epi123 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. My gift for you this year? It’s another installment of Succotash Chats, where I feature a conversation with someone associated with podcasting in one way of another. And this Christmas edition is not different, as our Special Guest is none other than Wayne Federman!

I thought he’d be the perfect holiday treat since, just like Jesus, he’s Jewish, funny, and occasionally misunderstood. Wow. That comparison would draw SO much hate mail from fans of both Jesus and Wayne…IF anyone actually listened to this show.

Wayne’s a great guy, a funny comedian, and a delightful actor, not to mention the co-host of a podcast called Human Conversation, with Erin McGathy. Regular Succotash listeners may remember I spoke with Wayne during multi-part Epi116 back in September when I was at the LA Podfest. We’ve got more time to delve into things this time around and we get into his long time served on the comedy stage, his podcast experience, and some other topics besides.

In addition to my chat with Mr. Federman, we have a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst with political comedian and social commentator Will Durst, a brand new Henderson’s Pants commercial penned by our friend Harry White and featuring our own Bill Heywatt, back in fine form after a brief illness.

In fact, as a special Christmas treat for you and your hole…family, we have Bill singing a special holiday song!

Speaking of songs, we also have a new and bizarre a cappella tune from Abner Serd, which will immediately follow the Tweetsack this time around, and before Mr. Durst’s second segment.

Before we get into the stuff, I just wanted to wish you and yours a happy holiday season, whichever holiday you celebrate. And that includes no holiday at all, depending where in the world you might be or whatever your philosophy might entail.

Sometimes I feel like Succotash is out on the Island of Misfit Podcasts, since we’re mostly playing clips and promoting other comedy podcasts and we only generate a tiny amount of our own material, plus some interesting interviews with cool people connected to podcasting.

We’re not fancy by any means, and we’re not the kind of show a podcast network is keen to pick up — what network wants to be promoting podcasts that aren’t on that network? And we don’t have much sponsor appeal it seems, either.

But YOU’RE listening to Succotash and that means the world to me. When I started the show almost 5 years ago — FIVE years! — I didn’t know if anyone would want to listen but you and a lot of other people have proven that there’s an audience for what we do at Succotash, and I want you to know that its’ really appreciated.

I want to thank the crew here, too, especially our producer/engineer Joe Paulino, our announcer Bill Heywatt, and especially our Associate Producer Tyson Saner, without whose help this show might have stalled out. Harvesting clips is no easy task. It reminds me of my days as a segment producer for a clip show on TV — largely thankless but imminently the hull that keeps the whole damn ship afloat.

I also want to thank all the comedy podcasters that we’ve clipped this past year for their generosity in letting us pick and choose what we want to feature from their shows.

And, of course, I want to thank the guests that have been kind enough to let us visit with them on the Succotash Chats editions of the show. I’ve enjoyed every interview we’ve presented for you. Sometimes the audio quality hasn’t been the best but I’d rather take the opportunity to interview someone when the moment presents itself rather than to be overly precious with making sure we can get the best location to record it in. Just because I’ve lost a couple of chances to chat it up by doing that and it doesn’t seem worth missing those opportunities.

That’s going to put a bow around the Christmas gift that has been this episode of Succotash Chats, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. Thanks again to Wayne Federman and thanks again to YOU! May you and yours have an absolutely stupendous time this holiday season and if you forgot someone on your gift list this year, you can always make it up to them by passing them the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:24:31yespodcast,joe,comedy,marc,bill,wayne,will,tyson,durst,saner,abner,federman,succotash,hershon,paulino,heywatt,serdSuccotash Clips Epi122: Movin' Toward The HolidaysWed, 09 Dec 2015 20:40:16 +0000Yes, ‘tis I, Marc Hershon. Happy holidays and welcome to Epi122 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. I’m back with another edition of Succotash Clips, the version of this podcast where we feature clips, snippets, and bits from comedy podcasts harvested from all around the Internet.

Special thanks, as always, to our Associate Producer, Tyson Saner, for going out and getting many of the offerings to be found in this installment. I hope you find at least one new show that you’d like to track down and download after listening to our little Whitman’s Sampler of a show.

Coming up this episode we have slices off of Comic Book Jones, The David Steinberg Podcast, The Eisenstein Effect, The Gisele Show, The GSMH Podcast, Proudly Resents, Sweet Feathery Jesus, and Wooden Overcoats.

What Else We Got?

In addition to the clippage, we’ve got our Burst O’ Durst segment with political comedian and social commentator Will Durst, where he’s running down the Top 10 comedic news stories of 2015 for you. This episode is sponsored by Henderson's Pants seasonal Jingle Drawers. And we’ve also got your tweets and emails and reviews in the Tweetsack.

And that’s about it. But isn’t that enough, really?

Clips

David Steinberg PodcastFunny how younger comics have, for the most part, paved the way for older comics to make their way into podcasting. The great David Steinberg is now jumping in, even though he’s mainly been busy writing and directing television for years. He started out as an improvisor and a standup. In fact, he was one of my comedy influencers back when I was first figuring out what made something funny. The guest in his second episode is Kathy Griffin and, even though David is a great conversationalist, with Kathy in the room you don’t really have to try that hard to keep the chatter going.

Wooden OvercoatsIf you’re a fan of British comedies, particularly the sitcom kind, there’s a podcast out that just wrapped up its 8-show, first season run that doesn’t miss a beat. It’s called Wooden Overcoats, created by David K. Barnes, and features a fantastic cast that really bring the characters to life. “Wooden overcoat” is slang for “coffin” and the premise of the show is that the only undertaker in a sleepy Channel island village is bent out of shape when a rival sets up shop. There’s intrigue, violence, romance, and a narrating mouse.

The Gisele Show Podcast, mit Friends!You might know Gisele Nett from her gig co-hosting the Nooner podcast on SModcast Internet Radio with Marty Yu. She’s started her own, entitled The Gisele Show Podcast, mit Friends! There are a pile of cast people, too: Jonna Tamases, John Pirruccello, Jon Stahl, and Gena Key. Tyson clipped this from her very first episode, featuring guest comedian Cassandra Cardenes.

GSMH (God-Shaped Mommy Hole)I’m not sure how our associate producer Tyson Saner finds some of these shows. Which is precisely why he’s as good as he is as our top clip clipper! Thanks to him we bring you a snippet of the GSMH Podcast, the initials of which stand for God-Shaped Mommy Hole. Headed up by a dude named Toni Rager, it’s a bunch of friends, just hanging out. There’s also Louis, Tim, Clicks and Freiddo, plus Rubbi Rager, but her mic was dead this episode. This clip features an interview technique with the acronym FORD, and some of the gang tries to explains to the rest of the gang who Joe Rogan is.

Proudly ResentsThis clip comes in directly from the source: Adam Spiegelman. Friend of Succotash, as well as past and, no doubt, future guest, Adam is the host of the Proudly Resents podcast. It had grown into kind of a mishmash of content and Adam was having a tough time figuring out what his own podcast was supposed to be. But in his note to me this week, he says that he has, “finally split up my podcast.” Meaning he’s got different bits and pieces but they’re all making sense. He says he got recaps, interviews, Nicko – his sometimes sidekick, and “The best of the worst Christmas movies.” He recently did a live “Saving Christmas” show at the Improv in Hollywood, with Jimmy Pardo, Todd Levin (a writer for Conan), and Sharon Houston, who is a podcaster and TV producer in the same vein as Adam.

Sweet Feathery JesusWe’ve not played anything for quite a while from the boys over at the Sweet Feathery Jesus podcast – Belasco, Beardo and Chuck Turtleman – so let’s correct that now with a segment from their show. This clip is from their #111, entitled On The Wagon Train, because their fourth cast member, Booze, is absent. It features an installment of their segment Denmark Is Shit.

The Eisenstein EffectComedian Vickie Eisenstein hosts The Eisenstein Effect, which is – according to her homesite – “a weekly jaunt to explore the careers, hobbies, and passions of funny, artistic, talented, and intelligent guests!” I think she’s based in Chicago, so she’s got access to lots of like-minded comedic types. Including the guest in Epi23 of her show, Anthony LeBlanc.

Comic Book JonesThere’s a comic book store in Staten Island, New York, a legendary place on Forest Avenue, called Comic Book Jones. It also happens to be the name of their podcast, hosted by proprietors Socko and Tiger Jones. They’ve been podcasting since Fall of 2012 and they’re still going strong with their special brand of geek chatter and comic book mayhem. And, at least around Thanksgiving, talk about disgusting White Castle Thanksgiving sliders.

Great Gift Ideas!

If you’re looking for something special for that someone special, might I suggest you visit our homesite, at http://SuccotashShow.com, where you can use the Amazon banner at the top of our page to slide over to the world’s biggest online store. Every time you purchase something there after using out link to get there, we get a little taste of the purchase price, but at no cost to you. You can also shop at our Succotashery, if that special someone would like something with our show logo on it. And if WE’RE your someone special, you can click the Donate button in the upper right hand corner of the page and slip us some delicious cash to help us keep Succotash alive in 2016!

That’s going to do it for Epi122 of Succotash Clips, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. Hopefully I’ll get another episode or two out before the end of the year. No special plans for a year-end show but you never know – maybe I’ll whip something up. I know this time of year gets busy but feel free to take Succotash along while you’re Christmas shopping or heading off to visit friends and family this holiday season.

And while you out there visiting, don’t be afraid to pass a little Succotash!

Franklin’s got a pretty fascinating history, including working with both Leonardo DiCaprio and Will Smith’s production companies, and we talk about that and more. The Black List Table Reads is a pretty unique podcast, just starting its second season, featuring recorded table reads of full-on, feature-length motion picture scripts that have not yet been produced but have been voted as the most popular on the Black List website, which our guest is also the brains behind.

(Just to give you a taste of what it’s like to hear a movie being read aloud — it's a bit like an old-style radio drama from the 1930's an d40's — we feature a few minutes from a couple of the film scripts Franklin features, one from their last season and one from the first movie to kick of Season Two, just last week.)

A Succotash Exclusive!

In the spirit of The Black List Table Reads, after my interview with Franklin is over, I play a few minutes from an unproduced screenplay I help Dana Carvey to write almost a decade ago. It's a comedy called The Happy Idiot…and hearing these few minutes on Succotash is likely to be the most of it you're ever going to find.

But That's Not All

We’ve also got our Burst O’ Durst segment with our own political comedian and social commentator Will Durst (if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area this holiday season, be sure to check out Will's Big Fat Year-End Kiss-Off Comedy Show, playing all over the place between Christmas and into the New Year.); a classic ad for Henderson's Holiday Pants;, a dip into the Tweetsack and, at the very end of the show, yet another acapella masterpiece by our friend Abner Serd, whose Tall Tales & Shaggy Dogs podcast offering is available via iTunes.

A Holiday Plea

Please, friends, remember that we need YOUR favorable reviews and comments to grow the crap out of Succotash and, if you’re NOT going to give us money by clicking on our Donate button, or shopping through our Amazon link or buying merch from our Succotashery — all availalbe through http://SuccotashShow.com — you can at least throw us a bone and give us a glowing review on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, or wherever you might run across our humble podcast.

Our next installment is going to be a Succotash Clips episode, I’m pretty sure, and we’ll bring you a buffet of podcast snippets from all over the place. In the meantime, won’t you please remember to pass the Succotash?!

This is Succotash Clips, Epi 120. And we have a Thanksgiving Feast of comedy podcast clips for you. It’s a veritable spread of different flavors and — given the humor in some of them — truly a groaning board of a clip buffet in store for your ears this time around.

In addition to that earload, we’ve got a visit to the Podcast Graveyard, courtesy of our associate producer Tyson Saner, who also harvested a number of the clips we’ve got on hand. We also have another double dose of our Burst O’ Durst with political comedian and social commentator Will Durst, a rummage around the ol’ Tweetsack, and a brand new Henderson’s Pants commercial.

Other than our ads from Henderson’s Pants, Succotash remains fitfully sponsor-free. The good news: you aren’t burdened by listening to those pesky ads. The bad news: money to keep this show going basically comes out of my pocket. You can help out with one of several methods, all done by visiting our homesite at http://SuccotashShow.com. You can click on the Donate button and shoot us some moolah. You can click on the Amazon banner at the top of the page and buy stuff at Amazon, then they give us a slice off the top. Or you can click on the link to our Succotashery and purch some merch, a percentage of which comes back to us after they print up whatever you buy. Or you can keep on listening to this show for free and just know that, in the back of my head, I’m thinking you’re just an electronic freeloader. No guilt, no judgement, though.

The Clips

Ear GogglesSo you might remember when I announced on this show earlier this year when the 10-year-old podcast known as Sibling Rivalry celebrated its decadeness was re-branded as Ear Goggles. I ran into 2/3’s of the hosting team – Jeremy Grater and Susan Black – last September at the 4th Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival. Host #3 – Aaron Ristrow – lives on the East Coast, as opposed to his Seattle-based compadres. I chatted with them, which we featured during the PodFest upload frenzy, and they chatted with me for their show, which just dropped recently.

The Rob & Slim ShowJust this last week I was a call-in guest on the LIVE partycast known as The Rob & Slim Show. They’ve been retweeting our stuff the past few months and I had just had Tyson clip me off a chunk of a recent show but, I figured as long as I was going to be on their show, we may as well use THAT clip. Rob and Slim — I haven’t been able to find much else about them or the other voice that seem to float around during their ‘cast — run a 3+ hour live whoop-de-doo, in the style of a morning radio show as they put it and they cover the gamut of topics that are fresh in and around the news. Plus they drink. How can you lose?

The Bitter SoundThis clip comes to us from The Bitter Sound, uploaded directly to us by host Davian Dent. He and sidekick Matt Bubbles managed to get OUR booth announcer, Bill Heywatt, to call in for a visit. (I can’t get the guy to stand still in Studio P long enough to do another Boozin’ With Bill segment yet these jokers get him just like that. I even pay the guy’s salary!) Oh well. If the only way we can get Bill on the show is with him being slightly tanked and yammering on a clip from someone else’s show, so be it.

The Reigning LunaticFriend-of-SuccotashGeoffrey Welchman, who was the former host of the now-kaput Inverse Delirium podcast, came roaring back after a time away from Podcastland with a brand new offering! The Reigning Lunatic is a scripted situation comedy about a crazy king and his hapless servants and subjects. Geoffrey asked me to play a part in the series opener as Sir Jerry, and I, being an audio whore, was only too happy to comply.

Ice & The FaceSo we had several direct uploaded clips this week (through our upload link at http://hightail.com/u/Succotash) including one from someone named Rick. His cover note with the upload reads: “Hello, my name is Rick, and I had a conversation with someone on twitter today from Succotash. I said I would provide a five minute clip from our comedy show, Ice and The Face, for your show. This clip is from episode #75 - 10.9.15. We hope you enjoy it! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via email or twitter DM if you like. You're show is awesome, and we very much appreciate your interest and are looking forward to hearing back. Thank you, Rick” Cool. Thanks, Rick!

Who Charted?I’m not sure we’ve ever featured a clip from this next show before. Not sure why. Who Charted? has been around forever and is quite beloved. They cover the hits that are charting in music and movies, with lots of comedy guests. The hosts are Howard Kremer and Kulap Vilaysack normally, but in this episode clipped by our Associate Producer Tyson Saner, Kulap is off, replaced by guest co-host Emily V. Gordon, who hosts another podcast – The Indoor Kids – with her husband, Kumail Nanjiani. Their guest is James Adomian, who’s gotten some attention lately because of his Bernie Sanders impression.

The Vince Wylde ShowTyson harvested us a clip from a new-to-me show, The Vince Wylde Show, part of the AM Podcast Network. (Not sure what that is, but the AM comes from the network founder, Adam Mulholland.) The Vince Wylde blurb on the homesite reads, “The Radio Show with Attitude, Humor, and great production. From Schizophrenic Studios on the 36th Floor of the FMI Building.” I don’t know where the Fmi building is, either. In this clip, Vince and his partner on the show, a guy named Ben sample some soft drinks from a company called Carbonated Atrocities. Bottoms up!

The McCue ReportThere’s a show from the Boston area that reached out to Tyson Saner directly, which is another way to go if you’re looking to be clipped on our show, called The McCue Report. It features comedian Jim McCue interviewing interesting and entertaining people, according to their homesite. The show’s been chugging along for about a year and a half now, and is part of Boston Comedy Festival Radio. In this clip, which was furnished to Tyson via Twitter, McCue chats with his guest, standup comedian Al Parks, about working on the road.

The All Seeing GuysOur man in Great Britain, Davian Dent, when he’s not producing his own podcasts – The Bitter Sound and Strange Times – is out looking for other fun stuff to put in his ears. This time he’s sent some of it along to us. It’s a clip from a show I’ve not caught yet, called The All-Seeing Guys, and features two blokes — are guys still called blokes in England? — named Greg and Joe.

As I said, a cornucopia of podcasts for your Thanksgiving week listening pleasure. Take us with you on that long drive to the relatives' house or listen while you're digesting on the couch after stuffing your face. And for those of you NOT in the United States, have a great Thursday and Friday.

Whether you're celebrating Thanksgiving or not, remember that I don’t care if you pass the turkey or the stuffing or the pumpkin pie, but I will always thank you for passing the Succotash!

The last chats I had were in relation to the Los Angeles Podcast Festival about two months ago. And while I enjoy featuring comedy podcast clips as much as the next guy who hosts a show featuring comedy podcast clips, it’s enjoyable for me to sit back and chat it up with some fun and/or funny people.

Our special guest this episode is actor/comedian Brian Haley, a guy I’ve known for 30 years, dating back to when I used to run the Comedy Underground club in Seattle. As you’ll hear in this interview, he quickly leapt from the standup stage to roles on television and in the movies, and he talk about his regret at not spending more time in the comedy realm.

We talk about some of the roles you’d know Brian from, including the season he did on NBC’s Wings, the Coen Brothers’ The Man Who Wasn’t There, the film Always, directed by Steven Spielberg, Baby’s Day Out, which made him a huge star in India of all places, and more.

But Succotash IS a podcast about other podcasts, primarily comedy-based but when there’s a comedian involved somewhere in the mix, that pretty much makes any podcast a comedy podcast, right? And Brian has a role in a new podcast being produced by GE of all people, something called The Message. I’m fascinated by it, and we talk about that show and Brian’s role in it. We’ll give a listen to a clip from The Message as well.

What Else?

In addition to our chat with Brian Haley, we have a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with political comedian and social commentator Will Durst. We also have a Henderson’s Pants ad, we’ll take a gander into the Tweetsack, AND we have a new acapella song by our friend Abner Serd, a sweet ditty about Autumn, which we’ll play at the end of the show.

I wanted to take a moment to thank those of you who have been using the Amazon banner at the top of our homesite, at http://SuccotashShow.com, to do your shopping at Amazon.com. Every time you do that, we get a little taste off the top of your purchase at no extra cost to you. And lately we’ve been getting a nice tidy direct deposit from Amazon into the Succotash coffers, which is helping to defray the costs of producing this show.

The other thing that helps us out is when you take the time to rate and review Succotash on iTunes. I wanted to give a shout out to Rick from the Ice and The Face podcast and also CEO Pistol Petey for posting a couple of lovely 5-star reviews! Thank you guys very much.

We’ll be back really soon with a Succotash Clips episode, with soundbites from a whole bunch of comedy podcasts. In the meantime, let your friends know about us and we’ll cheerfully thank YOU for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:07:35yespodcast,the,interview,comedy,brian,marc,chat,message,will,haley,durst,abner,succotash,hershon,serdSuccotash Clips Epi118: Pickin' N' Stickin' W/The Clippin'sMon, 19 Oct 2015 04:22:55 +0000Yes, it’s me, Marc Hershon. Your host and non-Presidential candidate for Epi118 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. This is another Succotash Clips episode. It’s been awhile since we’ve had a long Succotash "Chatsisode", but I have a few potential interviews lined up for the next couple of weeks. We’ll see if anyone wants to talk to me and, if they do, then we’ll see if you want to listen to it.

See how that works?

For new listeners to this here podcast, and just as a reminder to you old ears out there, we feature clips of other comedy podcasts as way to let you know what’s going on out there in Podcastland. It’s basically a public service and, checking the level of donations lately, we’re definitely not-for-profit. Oh, we’ll take your money. We just need to find someone who wants to give us some. We also interview podcasters, comedians, and comedy podcasters, as well as other interesting people we happen to find.

The last episode of this show ran kinda long – about an hour and a half – and one of the reasons I split Succotash up into Clips and Chats in the first place was to get the show length down a little bit. This week should be a tight, tidy little program. Which means you can get back to your regular life, already in progress, very quickly.

Coming up, clipwise, in this installment of Succotash Clips is Pipedream, Radio BrendoMan, Think Again, VICE, and Worst Collection Ever. In addition we have a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian & social commentator Will Durst, a classic Henderson’s Pants commercial, and another end-of-the-show acapella song by regular contributor Abner Serd.

Other Business

I don’t think I have much in the way of business to get to, just the usual stuff nobody seems to pay much attention to, such as clicking the Donate button at the http://SuccotashShow.com website to help us out since we don’t have sponsors other than Henderson’s Pants…which doesn’t pay us squat. And if money is something you don’t want to spoil us with because you’re afraid that me, our producer Joe Paulino and announcer Bill Heywatt will just go out and drink it up – you may be right, actually – then get up to iTunes and give us a nice rating and a short review.

Our friend Travis Clark of Tiny Odd Conversations is in town this week, performing Tuesday night at the Throckmorton Theatre, so I’m going to get together with he and his wife-sash-co-host…or is that co-host-slash-wife…Brandy for dinner.

And if you’re in the Marin County area on Thursday night this week, I’ll be MC’ing a screening of the 3 Still Standing documentary and a live comedy show by the three guys featured in the film: Johnny Steele, Larry Brown, and our very own Will Durst. That will be at the Rafael Film Center this Thursday night starting at 7:30 PM. There’s a link in the blog piece for this episode at http://SuccotashShow.com to get more information.

Clips

Worst Collection EverFor our first clip, I’m going to turn the hands of time back about a month, to the 4th Los Angeles Podcast Festival. That’s when I got to be a guest on a podcast called The Worst Collection Ever, co-hosted by friends-of-SuccotashShawn Marek and his wife, Jen Stansfield-Marek. They have a perverse pride in their absolutely dreadful, terible, wonderful comic book collection. Books that no one seems to care about. It’s more an Island of Misfit Comics. This visit with them was a year in the making because last year at the Podfest I had told Shawn that my favorite terrible comic character is DC’s The Creeper. So he and Jen combed through their collection and dredged up an issue of the Brave and the Bold featuring The Batman teaming up with The Creeper to stop a mysterious villain made out of paper.

Radio BrendoManSpeaking of the LA Podfest, our next clip was harvested by our associate producer Tyson Saner, who could not have known that when Brendan Creecy and Phil Vecchio of the Radio BrendoMan podcast were recording the episode this clip is from, that I was sitting just an arm’s length away in the SquareSpace Podcast Lab. I ever remember them doing this segment. But they never asked me to be on their podcast. Hmm…

Think AgainThis past week, for Huffington Post and Splitsider.com, I reviewed the Think Again podcast with host Jason Gots and his guest, the great Norman Lear, producer of such TV touchstones as All In The Family, Good Times and Sanford & Son. It’s a cool premise for a podcast. Jason has his producer select and play three short audio clips from different topics that are taken from past guest on the Big Think website’s videocast. He doesn’t know which ones are coming up and neither does his guest. After each sound bite, they respond to the topic at hand. In the slice I’m about to play for you, Lear and Gots kick around Donald Trump and human cruelty. It starts out with the audio chunk that they’ll then respond to…

PipedreamTyson tracked down and clipped us a hunk of the Pipedream podcast, which is part of the ComedyPipe Network. That’s kind of all we’ve been able to find out about the show. Pipedream is apparently hosted by a trio of Albany, New York, comedians but it’s not easy to discover their names by ANY of the web presence we found. Tyson THINKS one is named “3D”. Beyond that, though, these guys need to get their PR together. Because it’s a pretty decent show and we should be able to know who the hosts are, right? In this clip, they talk to their guest — who IS identified — Harry White, a standup from New York and a Succotash fan. In fact, the only reason we found out about the show is that Harry clued us in that he was going to be on it. Hey, Harry! Who the hell are the guys you’re talking to?

The VICE PodcastAccording to their entry over on PodBay, which is a great app for listening to your favorite podcasts, by the way, the VICE Podcast is a weekly discussion which delves inside the minds of some of the most interesting, creative, and bizarre people within the VICE universe. From the clip Tyson picks up for us, VICE’s host Reihan Salam gets comedian and musical genius Reggie Watts to reveal his agenda of world domination.

We’re all done with Succotash Clips, Epi 118, and that didn’t hurt a bit, did it? I’m going to give you a virtual lollypop for being so brave. Until next time, thanks very much for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>45:41yespodcast,radio,comedy,ever,marc,again,vice,collection,think,will,clips,worst,durst,abner,succotash,hershon,brendoman,pipedream,tweetsack,serdSuccotash Clips Epi117: Clippage With A Side Of ChatWed, 30 Sep 2015 18:40:01 +0000Yeppers, it’s me, Marc Hershon. Your host and inflatable arm-flailing tubeman for Epi117 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. This is a Succotash Clips episode with one exception, which I’ll 'splain in a sec. I’m happy to have our associate producer Tyson Saner back helping me to harvest clips of podcasts far and wide. He was a little overwhelmed doing some moving recently so we gave him some well-earned vacation time from listenin’ and snippin’. But he’s back and we’ve got some interesting clips to get to.

I’m one week back from the 4th Annual LA Podcast Festival and what a time I had. I was mostly dug in at the SquareSpace Podcast Lab, interviewing a few podcasters and then cutting, prepping and uploading those "minisodes". (You can find them all listed, essentially, under Epi116 at http://SuccotashShow.com and iTunes. I forgot to get them up to SoundCloud, but I’ll do that soon just to have them up there as well.)

There was one last interview that I didn’t get a chance to produce and upload. That was with Michael John Simpson, co-host of The Something Something Experience podcast , so I’m going to break protocol — God, the network hates when I do this — and play that interview and a clip from Michael’s podcast as well.

In addition to his show, we’ve got clippage from The Chillpak Hollywood Hour, The Mild Adventures of Fred Stoller, Human Conversation, Taco Tuesday, The Talking Podcast, The Hooray Show, The New Hollywood podcast, and the Why Didn’t They Laugh? podcast.

We also have a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment, featuring political comedian and social commentator Will Durst, a classic Henderson’s Pants commercial, and an absurd folk song from our musical buddy, Abner Serd. Be sure to listen for that following Bill Heywatt’s closing credits.

Clips

Chillpak Hollywood HourImmediately following the LA Podfest, I was honored to be the first guest to Skype in on the Chillpak Hollywood Hour, with Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness, since they’ve gone international with Dean now hanging out down under in Australia. A little after 11 o’clock Sunday night, I pulled off the freeway into the parking lot of a KFC in Patterson, California, population 20,868. Dean and Phil wanted me to give them a review of the Ear Buds podcast documentary which had a couple of preliminary screenings at the podfest. In addition, I gave them and their listeners my take on the current State of the Podcast Union.

The New HollywoodBrian Flaherty, host of The New Hollywood podcast, was our guest for Succotash Chats, Epi102, back at the end of the January of this year. I just reviewed his episode last week for both Splitsider and Huffington Post Entertainment, which featured his lengthy interview with the multi-talented and very entertaining Bill Hader. Since leaving SNL, Hader has been keeping himself busy – it seems like there is no acting job that guy won’t try – TV shows, commercials, and movies, including last year’s amazing The Skeleton Twins. Our clip features Hader outlining the audition process he had to go through to get on SNL.

Human ConversationLast week was actually a review “two-fer” because I reviewed Human Conversation in addition to The New Hollywood. Human Conversation is a podcast that’s 20-something episodes in and I hadn’t heard about it until co-host Wayne Federman waded into the Podcast Lab at the LA Podfest. Wayne and I go way back but we’re not in touch all that often and this was the first I’d heard of his show, which he co-hosts with Erin McGathy, the significant other of Dan Harmon, the mayor of Harmontown. In the course of the show, she and Wayne talk about a variety of topics but the things is that neither is allowed to look up facts, figures, names, or anything else germane to the topics they discuss. Here, they talk about music and getting things done. Although Wayne and Erin don’t look up anything then and there during each episode, they DO look things up before the next episode and they kick every show off with a list of corrections. (I’ll have Wayne on an episode of Succotash Chats soon to talk about his monumental 30-year-project, The Federman Chronicles, which features parts of his standup comedy act dating back 30 years.)

The Mild Adventures of Fred StollerI reviewed past guest and friend-of-SuccotashFred Stoller’s new podcast, The Mild Adventures of Fred Stoller, back when it debuted in July. We’d had Fred as a guest way, way back in Epi15, when doing his own podcast wasn’t even a twinkle in his mouth. We also clipped that episode I reviewed, with guest Robert Forester, but our Associate Producer Tyson Saner thought it was time for a rematch. The clip captures part of the opening to the show, which is part of a phone conversation of Fred trying explain the concept of a podcast to his mother. Also in this clip, he’s joined by sometimes-co-host Amber Tozer, and they discuss comedy and dating with guest Darren Carter and Nikki Sullivan.

The Hooray ShowThe hosts of The Hooray Show, which we’ve not covered on this show before, are Horatio Sands and Chad Krueger. Horatio is, of course, from SNL. Krueger is a musician, perhaps best known as the lead singer and guitarist for Nickleback. In this clip, from their Season 2, Episode 6, they talk to guests Peter Murrieta and Jaime Moyer about the fire that swept through the Second City offices in Chicago earlier in September. The theater, I believe, was largely untouched, but the offices took quite a hit.

The Talking PodcastFrom the UK comes The Talking Podcast, which is the most content-related blatant titling of a show I can remember. It features three brothers, Joseph Snelling, Oliver Snelling and George Trevor White, who, in the words of their homesite’s “Who Are We?”, “arrogantly assume that others would like to listen to them talking.” Tyson found this show and this clip, and I don’t know why the third brother’s last name, White, is not even close to that of his two brohams, which is Snelling. Here they talk about a family outing as boys on the Isle of Man. They also chat about Time as a concept. Heavy.

Taco TuesdayOkay, I’ve mentioned on the show before that I really don’t care for pre-recorded promos. There’s nothing inherently wrong with them, but they can be easily played on any other podcast to help cross promote another podcast. Clips are much more illustrative of what a show really has going on. And the guys at the Taco Tuesday podcast — Uncle Dan, Adam Wolf, and Dave In The Cave —know that. We’ve clipped ‘em before. But this week, they sent along a promo – it’s got a head, a tail, some chit chat in-between, and music bed throughout the whole thing. Maddening. But because I love the Taco Tuesday guys (and because they got this promo here using our upload link at http://hightail.com/u/succotashshow), I’m going to let it slide.

Why Didn’t They Laugh?Comedian Owen Benjamin, who is also an actor started a podcast where he tries to deconstruct his act. He plays portions of his performances and attempts to figure out what it was that kept an audience from laughing at the material. He’s almost 40 epis into Why Didn’t They Laugh? But our associate producer has clipped the very first episode, which features a recording of Owen’s father recounting a favorite joke. Tyson thinks the senior Benjamin sounds an awful lot like the late Spaulding Gray.

The Something Something ExperienceWe slipped this clip of The Something Something Experience onto the end of my interview with Michael John Simpson. It features he and his "co-caster", Kitty Brown, and their visit with comedian Ron Swallow. It seems Swallow has backed off performing fulltime, and their discussion gets into the challenge of making ends meet offstage, working as a freelancer in various industries.

Thanks for stuffing your ears full of Succotash Clips (with a little bit o’ chat). If you’d like to do a little something-something to pay us back for all this free chuckle n’ jivin’, we would adore your ratings and reviews up on iTunes, your thumbs-ups and reviews on Stitcher, a heart on SoundCloud, a Like on Facebook, a click on our Donate button or Amazon banner at http://SuccotashShow.com — any or all of those options will make us all very happy around Studio P and some of them will even get you mentioned on an upcoming episode of our show!

Until next time, thanks very much for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:24:15yespodcast,the,of,new,interview,show,comedy,podcasts,laugh,hollywood,fred,human,marc,adventures,tuesday,hour,talking,chat,conversation,why,clips,taco,they,didnt,mild,hooray,stoller,chillpak,succotash,hershonSuccotash Chats, Epi116F: Gearin' Up With Greg ProopsSun, 20 Sep 2015 22:28:25 +0000Yes, it's still Marc Hershon and I'm still at the 4th Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival. Taking up space in the SquareSpace Podcast Lab and interviewing comedians, podcasters, and comedian-podcasters as they breeze through the doorway.

I'm releasing each interview as its own "minisode", and this is the sixth in the lineup, which is why it is Episode 116F. And my guest this time around was our guest on a full episode of Succotash back in Epi109 in May: Greg Proops. At this festival, he's guesting on Jackie Kashian'sThe Dork Forest, performing his own show, and guesting on Dinner Party Download.

Known for his tenure on the various incarnations of Whose Line Is It Anyway on TV, Greg is the host of The Smartest Man In The World and the Greg Proops Film Club. He's also recently released his first book, The Smartest Book In The World. And now he's on a jagged world journey — hopping, skipping, and jumping to different countries around the world to promote the book, mostly by doing his podcast in the same locales as well.

Greg and I revisit some of the topics we hit on back in May when he was on the show: The challenges of doing improv as a guest performer, keeping an act fresh, staying sane on the road, and more.

I'm posting this on Sunday, the last day of the @LAPodfest. I'm not sure who else might sweep through the portals of the Lab, but I'll grab who I can and bring those Succotash Chats to you.

This is the fifth in a lineup of Succotash Chats minisodes, and for those of you curious about the mindset behind both the @LAPodfest and Ear Buds, The Podcast Documentary, I leapt at the chance to interview Chris Mancini - heavily involved in both of those endeavors.

Chris is co-host of the well-respected Comedy Film Nerds podcast along with Graham Elwood, and the duo is also the brains and muscle behind Ear Buds. Plus they are one-half of the quartet that has pulled the Los Angeles Podcast Festival together the past four years, teamed with Dave Anthony and Andy Woods.

We talk about the movie, the festival, and what other projects Chris has simmering on the back, middle and front burners of a mind that never seems to be at rest.

I hope you're enjoying our lineup of interviews from the Podfest - there's more on the way later today, so check back frequently for updates.

Yes, once again from the 4th Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival, it's me. Marc Hershon, your host and flamenco dancer for Epi116D of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. The fourth interview I did is from yesterday (Saturday), and I caught up with Jeremy and Stacy, two-thirds of the crew fromthe Ear Goggles podcast.

If you haven't heard of Ear Goggles, I don't think they'd blame you…yet. That's because for the past ten years, the two of them (along with Jeremy's half-brother Aaron) have been sailing under the Sibling Rivalry banner. I've mentioned and clipped them as such in past Succotash episodes, and we discuss why someone with a decade-long investment in a show title would decide to change now.

We cover a number of other topics as well in the course of our 20-minute chat, including the relationships between the podcast and its audience, Jeremy revealing personal things to strangers, and explore the question, "Should the cast of a comedy podcast consider themselves to be comedians?"

Keep on checking in on our stream this weekend, as I continue to upload interviews as soon as I can clean up the audio as best I can and drop them online! (And I appreciate you telling your friends and passing the SuccotashI)

— Marc Hershon

]]>25:45yespodcast,black,aaron,comedy,la,los,jeremy,angeles,marc,stacy,chat,festival,ear,clips,goggles,succotash,hershon,podfest,gratonSuccotash Chats, Epi116C: Slummin' with Shawn MarekSun, 20 Sep 2015 01:12:47 +0000Yes, once again, it is I. Marc Hershon. Host and dresser for Epi116C of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. This is the third of the interviews I've had during the course of this year's Los Angeles Podcast Festival, and this time I'm talking with Shawn Marek, a producer on podcasts that find their home on the Sideshow Network.

Shawn and I have known each other before there was a Sideshow Network, back when he was producing PodCRASH with Chris Gore, past guest on our Epi42 and friend of the show. And, although I knew he'd battled and survived a fight against Hodkin's Lymphoma, I didn't realize that his is one of the storylines that weaves their way through EarBuds: The Podcast Documentary, which had a preliminary screening last night at the Podfest.

We talk about both his illness and his appearance in the movie as part of our chat. For those podcasters out there, curious about podcast networks and how to possibly approach them with an interest to joining their lineup, we go there as well. We also talk about the podcast that he and his wife, Jen Stansfield-Marek, co-host, Worst Collection Ever, a comic book podcast about comics books that most people don't seem to care that much about.

With his extensive experience on the other side of the podcast mic, Shawn's got a great perspective on the industry — both as an entertainment medium and as a viable source of income.

Keep on checking in on our stream this weekend, as I continue to upload interviews as soon as I can clean up the audio as best I can and drop them online! (And I appreciate you telling your friends and passing the Succotash!)

Yes, it's me, Marc Hershon. Your host and talent wrangler for Epi116B of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, and I'm still hanging out in the SquareSpace Podcast Lab at the 4th Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival. Happy to report that, after several years of my half-assed attempts to get Jackie Kashian, the host of The Dork Forest, on the show…it's finally happened.

We didn't have a whole lot of time, and the noise level in the Podcast Lab is a little off the charts while Jackie dropped by. But you take what you can get and I was glad that Jackie and I finally got the chance to chat while miked.

We talk about, after 250+ episodes, how does Jackie keep finding so many flavors of dork out in the world. We also chatted a lot about some tech stuff, like the difficulty of cleaning up audio files. And the virtues and pitfalls of improv. I also shamelessly pitched her on bringing me on her show as a guest. I figured I had to take my shot…

Give a listen, tell your friends, and thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>22:11yespodcast,forest,comedy,marc,chat,jackie,clips,kashian,dork,succotash,hershonSuccotash Chats, Epi116A: Wranglin' Wayne FedermanSat, 19 Sep 2015 20:37:15 +0000Yes, It's me, Marc Hershon. Your host and podfest attendee for Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, Epi116A. That's right. A. Hopefully we'll be filling out at least a few more letters of the alphabet by the time the 4th Annual Podcast Festival draws to a close, as we're lumping all the content from it under the Epi116 banner.

My first interview was with the gloriously glib Wayne Federman, comedian, actor and co-host of Human Conversations with Erin McGaffey.

Wayne and I have known each other through the world of standup comedy for a number of years - 25 of them, maybe - and it's always a treat to hang out when the chance pops up. I was rambling around the hall outside the conference rooms that the live podcasts are taking place in and happened up him. Turns out he wasn't up to much and he swung by the SquareSpace Podcast Lab to chat for a bit.

In our 20-something minutes together, Wayne and I talk about podcast tech, his podcast, and an exciting project he has coming out — The Wayne Federman Chronicles. A compilation of his standup that spans 30 years. He tells us restoring sets from old VHS tapes and how and where this amazing collection will soon be available.

Keep an ear glued to our feed all weekend for more Succotash Chats coming from the LA Podfest. And thanks for passing the Succotash!

Yes, it's me — Marc Hershon – your host and chauffeur for this special Podfest Halfisode, Epi115 and a half of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. Record as I drove down Interstate 5 this morning between San Francisco and Los Angeles, don't be looking for any clips in this sucker.

It's just me, yacking about whatever came into my head. Some ruminating about my performance as the emcee for last night's TEDx Marin event, and some cogitating about the state of podcasting today.

Or it WAS going to be just about me. Halfway down the road I got tired of hearing my own voice and so called longtime friend and past Succotash guest Rick Overton, the host of Overview, his own podcast over on the Sideshow Network.

We chatted about his guest appearance on Blunt Talk, the new Patrick Stewart show on Starz, as well as his landing a new national commercial for GE. And about Kelly Carlin' new book, The Carlin Home Companion: Growin Up With George. Rick was among a vast cadre of mutual friends who showed up just the other night at the Barnes & Noble in the Grove shopping center in Los Angeles for her book signing and reading.

As I write this, I am at an undisclosed location in Burbank, shaking out my brand new Succotash t-shirt and getting all spiffed up to register at the Sofitel for the 4th Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival. Hopefully, throughout this weekend, I'll be posting a series of Succotash minisodes featuring interviews with whomever manage to snag in my podcast snare.

Been a while since we’ve sat down at the Succotash microphones and had a good long yackfest with someone. But that’s about to change, as I am on the eve of making the Kessel Run from San Francisco to Los Angeles, in order to make it into town for the 4th Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival this weekend. If you’re in the Southland and want to check it out, the shindig is at the Sofitel in West Hollywood, right across from the humungoid Beverly Center. You can get tickets and information at http://LAPodfest.com

I’m anticipating a whole lot of talkin’ going on, both from folks talking to me in the SquareSpace Podcast Lab AND from me talking to podcasters on their shows. I have some specifics about some of that action coming up when we get to the Tweetsack segment later on in the show.

Podclip Roundup

Clips featured this episode have been snippeted from: Chillpak Hollywood Hour, Illusionoid, The JV Club, The Manchild Show, The Red & Jay Show, Studious Studs, The Bitter Sound, and Tiny Odd Conversations. There's also a special teaser for the ManBuyCow Podcast! (If you’re a comedy podcaster and would like us to include a clip from your show, you can use our direct upload link to get us your 3-5 minute MP3 clip – it’s http://hightail.com/u/succotash.)

We also have a classic commercial for Henderson’s Too Cool For S'cool Pants, a Burst O’ Durst with political comedian & social commentator Will Durst, musing about what some of the presidential candidates may have been up to during their summer vacations, and a new song about spiders from frequent contributor Abner Serd.

Good Cause Alert!

Our old buddy Ethan Dettenmaier, host of Combat Radio, has a new project out to raise much-needed money for social services, called Combat Radio Halloween. It’s got a bunch of crazy good talent on it, reading spooky stories and generally ripping All Saints’ Day a new a-hole. Download YOUR copy of Combat Radio Halloween by clicking over to http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/combatradiohalloween

Clips

Chillpak Hollywood HourDean Haglund & Phil LeirnessI included a clip from Chillpak HOllywood Hour this week, hosted by podcast royalty Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness, not just because they amuse me but because they employed this show's proprietary coinage of the term tweetsack. There's a bit of echo on Dean's side of the conversation in this clip - apparently, co-hosting form Sydney, Australia is not without it's audio aberrations. (There's a plan, incidentally, to have yours truly as a Skyped-in guest for their episode next week to report on the Podfest and also to give a review of Ear Buds, the new documentary about podcasters and podcasting that will debut at the Podfest on Friday night.)

The JV ClubJanet Varney with guest Kelly CarlinThe last time we had Ms. Janet Varney grace our microphones was almost a year ago at LAST year’s LA Podfest. I just saw her in a rough cut of a new movie we’re talked about here before: Diani and Devine Meet The Apocalypse. And she’s hilarious, as always. You hear her voice all over the place, including as the voice of Korra in The Legend of Korra, and as the voice of Nerdist.com. She’s 170 episodes into her podcast, The JV Club, where she mostly interviews women of show business — except during her Boys Of Summer series, which just ended. Her latest guest is also a friend and past guest of Succotash — dating back to Episode 9, no less — and it’s none other than Kelly Carlin, who has been touring with her one-woman show, A Carlin Home Companion: Growing Up With George. She and Janet sharing some things in common, including being the only child in their respective families.

Illusionoid!Paul Bates, Lee Smart & Nug NahrgangOne of my favoritest shows ever, Illusionoid!, just kicked off their 5th year and 5th season of podcasting. The Terrific Trio from Toronto — Paul Bates, Lee Smart, and Nug Nahrgang — still the best name in podcasting — runs a fantastic improvised sci-fi themed show that is consistently funny. I just reviewed the episode this particular clip is from for Splitsider.com and Huffington Post. The episode is called “Day Million”, and features three owners of a copy store that has somehow existed for over 2000 years…and their lone customer on this fateful day.

ManBuyCowRufus & HowardWe normally don’t play promos for podcasts on Succotash because, well, I think clips make better promos than…promos. BUT I have been waiting patiently enough for the return of the ManBuyCow Podcast with Rufus and Howard. Season 3 is imminent and there’s finally word that it’s almost here.

The ManChild ShowVintendo, Pistol Pete, Nicole Cole, Rev. Sir Chano, Jessie BoomBattzFrom ManBuyCow we go to The Manchild Show. We’ve been getting a lot of Twitter action from @PistolePeteMC, who is one of the hosts of Manchild. He tells me that, since he’s come onboard, he’s been trying to steer the show away from some of comedy’s low-hanging fruit — which I assume is a metaphor for testicle jokes. Pete really wanted me to play something from their next episode but it’s not ready yet. So I’m playing the clip I harvested from their previous installment because, well, who knows? The network may punch our ticket and we’ll be out of here before the next show starts.

Tiny Odd ConversationsTravis Clark and Brandy ClarkWe haven’t played anything from Tiny Odd Conversations for a bit, which means we completely missed out on celebrating their Episode 200. If you haven’t caught TOCpod, it’s with our friends Travis and Brandy Clark, a delightful couple from Los Angeles. First of all, kids, congrats on hitting your Epi 200! And second of all, this clip has Trav and Brandy ruminating about: How do parents manage to let their kids try all sorts of sports and activities without being fabulously rich? (I manage to catch up with the Clarks pretty much every time I get to LA, so I know that they’ve been busy and getting their episodes out regularly has been tough. Believe me, I know what that’s like, and I don’t blame ‘em a bit.)

Red & Jay ShowRed & JayRed and Jay are back! Red and Jay are back! I actually don’t know who these guys are, but according to their homesite, they're five episodes in after being off for a year. There’s not a lot of info on these guys on their site, just their first names. Or nicknames, maybe? I don’t know. But I DO know they are opinionated. About stuff that some of us probably don’t even thing a lot about. In the snippet we harvested, they’re going off about HR. Human Resources, that is…

The Bitter SoundDavian Dent & Matt BubblesOne of the staunchest supporters of this show and what we do here — namely, let YOU know about comedy podcasts — is Davian Dent over in the UK. He’s involved in a couple of podcasts, including Strange Times and his own The Bitter Sound, a show that’s an ongoing experiment and experience in audio wonderment. The ol’ BS has been down for a bit, but it’s coming back, baby! And Davian, along with his sometimes sidekick, Matt Bubbles, created this preview of a piece of the upcoming first show of his new season just for you…and it's one of the more disgusting uses for the "theater of the mind" in recent memory.

Studious StudsShaq Scott and TerranceNext up is a clip from the Studious Studs podcast with Shaq Scott and Terrance. I found these guys because they’d re-tweeted something of ours. Found out they’re into their second season, after taking a break for the summer. Their website describes the show as “A weekly podcast that sits down and discusses life's obstacles and events in a very funny way.” Okay, I’ll buy that. This clip clues us in on what the guys have to say about a recent Chris Brown concert.

Thanks for reading this blog and, hopefully, taking time out to listen to the actual podcast. That's what it's there for. Don’t forget to jump up to iTunes to rate and review us – that’s about the only thing that gets us noticed. If you want to flip us a few coins, feel free to access the Donate button or the Amazon banner or our Succotashery, all through our homesite at http://SuccotashShow.com.

Until the next time we invade your earholes, thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>58:08yespodcast,the,show,jay,club,comedy,sound,hollywood,marc,bitter,hour,odd,red,conversations,clips,tiny,jv,chillpak,succotash,hershon,studs,manchild,illusionoid,tweetsack,studious,manbuycowSuccotash Clips Epi114: Slippin' You Some More ClippageSun, 06 Sep 2015 18:26:47 +0000Yes, it’s me. Marc Hershon. Your host and drum major for Epi114 — the Labor Day Edition — of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. And it’s another Succotash Clips installment – loading you up with a lot of clips because in a few weeks I’ll be down at the 4th Annual LA Podcast Festival, and I will have a pile of interviews from our stakeout in the SquareSpace Podcast Lab. which means we should have some bodacious Succotash Chats upon my return.

I’ve harvested some of this episodes clips, while others have been sent in by comedy podcasters just like you…if you’re a comedy podcaster, that is. Of course, if you’re a listener to a comedy podcast you like, you can drop me a line, at marc@SuccotashShow.com and let us know the show you like. Then I can send our erstwhile Associate Producer Tyson Saner out to clip an episode from it.

On the show this time around we’re featuring clips from Broken Filter, Geek Blast, Grabbing Lunch, 98 Problems, Rude Alchemy, Stab!, and Tall Tales with our friend Abner Serd.

Bursts O' Durst

We also have a double dose of Durst, this episode, with resident political comedian and social commentator Will Durst, with two of our Burst O’ Durst segments. Will is pointing out the benefits of the looonnnnnnggggg Presidential election campaign, and then he's got a special Labor Day Burst heading your way.

In addition this show, we have a visit to the Podcast Graveyard, a brand new Henderson’s Pants commercial and a dip into the ol’ TweetSack.

Appearing Live

Coming up live this month, on Thursday evening, September 17th, I’ll be hosting an evening of inspirational and informative speakers as part of the TedX Marin event. I’m just there to keep things moving –but it’s a great slate of speakers that you can’t see because I just found out the event is sold out. So why am I telling you about it? Bragging, probably.

Then, right after that, Friday through Sunday, September 18th through 20th, I’ll be – as I said – at the LA Podfest. And you can be there, too, because that is NOT sold out! Tix and deets at http://lapodfest.com. And you can look for me with our Succotash merch, mics and mayhem in the SquareSpace Podcast Lab.

Put Your Eyes Where Your Ears Are

We’ve been putting out a little webazine the past couple of months, The Succotash Daily. It’s aggregated content around podcasts and comedy and, sometimes, comedy websites. You can check it out and subscribe at http://hersh.co/dailysucc, and it will be delivered to your inbox every morning.

Podcast Graveyard

I chose to exhume this episode’s Podcast Graveyard victim, The Comedy Buffet, because I realized I hadn’t heard from Michael Powell, the host of the podcast for a while, nor had I seen any tweets from the show. Turns out it went tits up a while back – Mike contacted me to let me know he’d just gotten kind of bored with it, but that he’s cooking up some new concept and may be back with a different show soon. He’s done a great job of hiding the body, as I was having a lot of trouble trying to find a past show to clip, but then I remembered that we’d featured The Comedy Buffet way back in 2011, in our epi number SEVEN. In the clip, Michael chats about diabetes with his guests, Jason and Jesse, from the Van Full of Candy podcast. (Haven't heard from VFoC for a while, either — are they next up in the graveyard???)

Clips

Rude AlchemyThis past week, for my podcast review on Splitsider and the Huffington Post, rather than just listen to a single episode of a show, I gobbled up the entire third season of a podcast called Rude Alchemy. The season is only five episodes, and they’re pretty short, so I don’t want you thinking I was really going crazy. The title for the season is The Plague Clowns, and it’s a really well put-together show. Solid writing and performances, a layered story – TWO stories, really – which is compelling enough to make you want to binge listen the hell out of it.

Grabbing LunchPodcasters who are wondering about good ways to get clipped on Succotash obviously don’t listen enough to realize that if you can somehow feature me or Succotash on your podcast, that will sually do the trick. I was in LA a couple of months ago and was invited to chow down by Matt Knudsen, the host of the Grabbing Lunch podcast, at Izzy’s Deli in Santa Monica. We were joined by friend-of-SuccotashCole Stratton, the co-host of the Pop My Culture podcast and co-founder of the San Francisco Sketchfest. It was a wide-ranging chat – we even talked about Matt’s Hungarian in-laws…

Geek BlastSuccotash suddenly started getting a lot of Twitter love from Corrosive Radio, which has a couple of shows streaming on internet radio, which is podcasting’s cousin. Even though they’re not technically podcasts, I thought I’d pay their kindness forward and offer you a clip from a past Geek Blast show, where they had guest Clark Gregg, who stars as Agent Coulson on Marvel’s Agents of Shield.

Stab!I don’t know a whole lot about Stab!, one of the only podcasts with an exclamation point in the title. It’s excerpted from a live comedy show by the same name in the Sacramento, California, area. The detail on the show on iTunes says, “This rapid fire comedy panel show about everything gives 4 comedians 3 days to write their own personal spins on six different topics.” The hosts are John Ross and Jesse Jones. And Jesse was savvy enough to use our direct upload link to send us this clip from a past show, where the topic was ISIS.

98 ProblemsWe’ve had a few of our recent tweets kindly retweeted by the boys of the 98 Problems podcast. So I figured I’d do ‘em a solid and clip a recent episode. When I went up to their homesite,I didn’t find a whole lot of information about the guys themselves. There’s Mike and Alex on the show. And a lot of references to Sammy. No other specifics, like last names or anything like that. So I went with what I heard: a clip, entitled “Drop Your Trousers”.

Tall Tales & Shaggy DogsAt the tail end of Succotash in the past couple of episodes, I’ve played songs by a listener and contributor named Abner Serd. The songs are…well, rather unique. It turns out that Abner has a collection of stories out there, available via iTunes, and it’s in the podcast section on iTunes. Called Tall Tales & Shaggy Dogs, it’s a very loosely wrapped bit of business with a bunch of different stories and such. We're featuring a selection called Arithmefiction. (And if you hang in 'til after Bill Heywatt wraps up the show, you'll be treated to another Serd song, My Dog Blue.)

Broken FilterThe last podclip for this episode comes from yet another show that started retweeting us out of the kindness of their hearts. Broken Filter is a once-a-week Internet radio show over on http://ZenLive.tv, and it features hosts JoeRockstar and Jonesy (are those their REAL names, do you think?) They're live every Tuesday night at 8 PM — I think that’s East Coast time. I clipped a recent installment featuring Dave Pounder, the author of Obscene Thoughts. He's also a porn producer of some renown as well as a former adult film star.

By The Way

Incidentally, if you’re looking to get YOUR comedy podcast reviewed by one of the gang at This Week In Comedy Podcasts, you can send an email to podcasts@splitsider.com. That will go out to the whole group of us that contribute to the column and you stand a better chance of having someone want to review your show.

Extra Bits

John Eder, the brains behind the To The Manor Borne By Robots podcast, informs us that his show is in the finals of the 2015 LA Weekly Best Of Competition, in the Best Podcast category. Which is pretty high honors – it's competing with Marc Maron's WTF and The Tom Leykis Show. Let's help him win this - but we only have until September 9th to vote! Go to http://readerschoice.laweekly.com and do your thing!

In closing this week, even though no one ever clicks on our Donate button anymore at http://SuccotashShow.com, nor buys anything from our webstore at http://hersh.co/succotashery, I feel it's my duty to make you aware that it IS within your power to help me pay for this relentless piledriver of a show, the sole purpose of which is to spread the word about comedy podcasts near and far. We also have an Amazon banner at the top of the page which generates kickbacks whenever someone uses it to shop at Amazon but, as far as I know, only Phil Leirness over at Chillpak Hollywood Hour uses it. Feel free to avail yourself of that avenue of Succotash support if you so desire.

And if you have no disposable income to shower upon us, your moral support in the way of ratings and reviews at iTunes, "thumbs ups" at Stitcher, Likes on our Facebook page, or hearts over at SoundCloud go a long way to putting smiles on the faces of me, producer Joe Paulino, announcer Bill Heywatt, and Associate Producer Tyson Saner.

Until we hit your earholes again, thanks for passing the Succotash.

— Marc Hershon

]]>57:07yespodcast,comedy,problems,geek,tales,marc,lunch,clips,broken,filter,rude,blast,alchemy,tall,stab,98,grabbing,succotash,hershonSuccotash Clips, Epi113: Clippin' It All For YouMon, 03 Aug 2015 17:38:16 +0000Yes, it’s me. Marc Hershon. Your host and docent for Epi113 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. We’re back with a Succotash Clips installment, thanks largely to the efforts of our Associate Producer Tyson Saner, not to mention the savvy comedy podcasters who have uploaded their own clips directly to us via our upload link, which is http://hightail.com/u/succotash.

Coming up, clipwise, this show we have Cardboard, The Chillpak Hollywood Hour / Am I Right, Ladies?, The Magic Tavern, Radio Dan, the Talk Blocked podcast, The Mo Show, Wampa Stampa, and the We Are Not Alone podcast.

We also are featuring a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with our resident political comedian and social commentator Will Durst - and he lavishes his vitriol on Donald Trump, and the TweetSack. We not only have a classic Henderson's Pants commercial this episode, but we've got an additional sponsor and a commercial from Empire State Gas, the patron for Chillpak Hollywood.

IN OTHER REALMS

Before I get to all that stuff, just a couple of mentions for stuff going on where I’ll be appearing live this September. I’ve been asked to host the TedX Marin Talk 2015 in San Rafael. There’s an amazing lineup of inspirational, informative speakers lined up and, somehow, me. That’s going to be on Thursday evening, September 17th — click the link for more info. Directly after that – and I do mean directly – I’ll be down south for the 4th Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival, September 18-20. I’m going to do my best to nail down a spot in the SquareSpace Podcast Lab and interview folks passing through. This time, I’ll try to post everything while I’m there so I don’t end up with a humungous backlog of interviews that take months to unspool. I STILL haven’t gotten to all the ones I did last year. Shameful. You don’t have to be a podcaster to come by and watch some of your favorite podcasts happening live that weekend. And me. Not officially a part of the podfest but so what?

PODCAST GRAVEYARD

This episode's exhumed podcast The Evil Teddy Bear Podcast, hacked out of its eternal rest by Tyson. Hosted by Korey Epps and Mike Capps, I was disappointed to learn that it had gone "off mic" this past April. The clip we have is from two episodes before their last one, with guest Will Harrison, in an episode entitled The @Unheard Nerd Strikes Again.

CLIPS

Chillpak Hollywood Hour / Am I Right, Ladies?We have a sneak preview of sorts from a new podcast. If you caught Epi112 last time, I interviewed Phil Leirness of the Chillpak Hollywood Hour and Lily Holleman, who will be co-hosting a new spinoff show from Chillpak, entitled Am I Right, Ladies? That show features Lily and comedian/actor Karen Forman and will be kicking off…soon, was the best answer I’ve gotten out of them. But a couple of weeks ago they did their last stint filling in for Phil and the southward-traveling Dean Haglund, who has moved to Australia. It's not only seems like a great example of two smart women hosting a podcast, which will be largely about smart women, but they also – in the grand tradition of Chillpak, mentioned me.

The Mo Show PodcastMocean Melvin and a big cast of voice actors Unabashedly, I’ve got a soft spot for well-produced sketch comedy podcasts. And I’ve been turned onto a new one – The Mo Show, starring voiceover performer Mocean Melvin and a crew of funny, talented voice actors out of Los Angeles. BTW, about a week ago or so, The Mo Show decided to honor us on Twitter by proclaiming us the Best Show Named After a Food Containing Lima Beans! So thank you, Mo Show!

Wampa StompaAssociate Producer Tyson Saner has harvested a bunch of clippage for today’s epi. One of them is the Wampa Stompa podcast. It’s a newish show where the three co-hosts — Jon, Gus, and Candy – “talk about anything ranging from Star Wars to boxing to current events.” Seems like two rather specific topics followed by kind of anything goes. In this clip, from Wampa Stompa Epi8, the hosts speculate on everything shown in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer. They also rank their top 3 Pixar films, along with what purely animated Disney films are their favorite.

Hello from The Magic TavernA couple of weeks ago I reviewed a podcast called Hello from The Magic Tavern for Splitsider.com and the Huffington Post. Now, there are a number of Dungeon & Dragon and other role playing podcasts floating around, like Nerd Poker with Brian Posehn and Friends over on Earwolf. But, as I mentioned in my review, this is the first one I’ve found where characters who might otherwise be heard adventuring are actually just hanging out in a tavern, actually recording a podcast rather than dungeon crawling or whatever. The set-up is that the main host, Arnie Neikamp, fell through a magical rift behind a Chicago area Bunger King into the mystical land of Foon. (No relation, as far as I know, to friend-of-Succotash Eric Furniss of the From Out Of Nowhere podcast, or as it is otherwise known, the FOONcast.) Anyway, Arnie has set up shop at the Vermilion Minotaur, AKA The Magic Tavern, with his co-hosts: The wizard Usidore, played by Matt Young, and Chunt the Changeling, voiced by Adal Rifai. In the clip we're featuring, from episode 19, their guest is someone near and dear to my heart, given my background in branding: Merlinda Flimpery (Irene Marquette), a Namer – a person who gives secret names to people so that no one can discover their power.

Talk BlockedThis clip was provided directly from gents of the Talk Blocked podcast, who sent a download link into the Tweetsack, at clips@SuccotashShow.com. You can also upload your 3-5 minute clip directly to us at http://Hightail.com/u/succotash. Cody and Steve-O (NOT the same Steve-O from the Jackass movies) have put out about 20 episodes of their show now. Our clip comes from Epi18 and features their guest, Dr. Mike, an actual ER doc, talking about a young man who came in complaining of stomach pains. The diagnosis turned out to be a bit more graphic that one might suppose.

Cardboard!We were talking role playing games a couple of clips ago. Now, thanks to Tyson, we’re switching to board games, with a clip from the Cardboard! podcast with host Rich Sommer. Billing himself as a “board game evangelist”, Sommer is known from his appearance on Mad Men. And, in fact, this clip features two of his castmates – Michael Gladis and Aaron Staton. Gladis has the host relate his favorite “chess photo” story in this segment.

The Radio Dan ShowI got to know Dan Delgado, aka “Radio Dan”, of the Radio Dan Show, last year at the LA Podfest. We were both hunkered down in the Podcast Lab pretty much the whole time, so we got to talking, watching each other’s equipment when the other one wanted to take a break, you know – Brothers in Podcasting. Not sure if he’s making the trek out from Boca Raton, Florida, again this year, but he’d sent along a little…I’d guess you’d call it rant… about his unsung 40 years of sobriety, as he sees it.

We Are Not AloneHoly cats! As previously mentioned, I’m a big fan of folks doing audio sketch comedy for their podcasts, especially when it well-written and fun. And that’s got Britain’s We Are Not Alone written all over. They’re four seasons in and it’s all put together like campy 1950’s science fiction. This show is writen by Jon Thrower and Andrew Fletcher. They both act in it and there is a bunch of other cast members voicing what you’re hearing as well. Here’s a taste from epi 3 of the lastest season, entitled, Wonderbirds Are GoI

That's what's in store for your ears with Epi113 of Succotash Clip!. Thanks so much for the listen. We appreciate your patronage. If you’d like to help us to defray the cost of production on Succotash, feel free to visit our homesite, http://SuccotashShow.com, and click on the Donate button there. Or on the Amazon banner at the top of the page – everything you buy on that particular shopping trip gives us a time percentage. OR you can purch some merch through the Succotashery – t-shirts, mugs, all stort of gewgaws can be yours.

This is a Succotash Chats episode, featuring a delightful conversation with our Special Guests: Phil Leirness of The Chillpak Hollywood Hour and Lily Holleman, one of the two hosts of a brand new podcast called Am I Right, Ladies?

We recorded the chat on their lovely rooftop at the edge of Hollywood as the sun was setting, drinking martinis. I think this is the most civilized episode of this show recorded so far. (Please forgive the occasional gusts of wind, traffic noise, and sirens that make listening a bit of a challenge during portions of the interview…)

I've featured both Phil and Lily on the show before but it's been a while and this is the first time that we've had them on doing a "team interview". In addition to Phil's long time co-hosting of Chillpak — now into it's ninth year – he is a filmmaker, an acting teacher, and a violence prevention specialist. Lily is a film producer, a stage and screen actress, a writer, and the toast of the 90-year-old Los Angeles Breakfast Club.

One of the other reasons I was doing the "SoCal Shuffle" this weekend is to hang out on the Grabbing Lunch podcast with Matt Knudsen, where I’ll be dining with him and the co-host of the Pop My Culture podcast – and past Succotash guest – Cole Stratton, later today. I’ll let you know when the episode of Matt’s show drops.

In addition to our convo with Phil and Lily – or “Phily”, to give them their appropriate Hollywood “Power Couple” portmanteau – we’ve got some delicious Burst O’ Durst with our resident political comedian and social commentator Will Durst. Iin fact, we have a double dose o' Durst — the first segment deals with the fracas over the Confederate Flag, while the second is Will's observance of the 4th of July holiday in the US of A.

We also have an ad from Henderson’s Pants – this episode is brought to you by Henderson’s new Pain Pants. We’ll dip into the ol’ Tweetsack. And we DO have a couple of clips – I know it’s a Chats episode – but these clips will be from the shows of our two guests.

On the podcast review front, just to keep you up to speed, this past week I reviewed a somewhat silly podcast called Hello From The Magic Tavern, a show featuring sort of D&D characters that are actually hosting a podcast rather than adventuring, and it’s actually pretty funny. I’ll clip ‘em the next Succotash Clips epi. And I also mentioned a couple of other p-casts: A new one to me called You Better DON’T and a special extra episode of Welcome to Night Vale. You can find those reviews and mentions up at Splitsider and Huffington Post.

Next episode will be a Succotash Clips show. We've already got a full rack lined up but it you're a comedy podcaster and would like us to feature your show, you can upload a 3-5 minute MP3 clip directly to us at http://hightail/u/succotash.

Until next time, thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:31:21yespodcast,comedy,marc,bill,phil,will,lily,pants,clips,durst,hendersons,succotash,hershon,leirness,heywatt,hollemanSuccotash Clips, Epi111: Clippin' The Prez And MoreFri, 26 Jun 2015 22:36:45 +0000Yes, it’s me. Your host and cat wrangler for Epi111 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. This is another Succotash Clips episode – that’s two in a row – and I’ve got a bucketful for comedy podcast clips for you this time around.

Our Associate Producer Tyson Saner grabbed some of ‘em, I clipped some, and we also had some podcasters upload them directly to us, using our Succotash upload link: http://Hightail.com/u/succotash.

In addition to the clips, we’ve got a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment, with political comedian and social commentator Will Durst. We’ve got a Henderson’s Pants ad. We dig into the Tweetsack. And that’s about it.

Where Are We?

I’m not sure where you grabbed this episode of Succotash from, but we’re available from iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, PodBay, Overcast, TuneIn Radio and you can even listen to us on the Succotash Facebook page – why don’t you go ahead and Like us while you’re there? We also get replayed over on CWERadio.com – that’s Clutch And Wiggle Entertainment Radio. In fact, one of the clips we have today is from the actual Clutch & Wiggle Show.

Besides the Clutch And WiggleExperience, clipwise, we have samples from A Twilight World of Ultimate Smoothness, Date Speeding, Deviants Church, Don’t Worry – It’s Only The End of The World,Four Listeners, Pistol Shrimps Radio, Strong Opinions, The World of Mindshaft, and WTF.

Where Will We Be?

The 4th Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival is coming up in September. I’ve been to the first three and they’re always a lot of fun. I already snagged a 3-day ticket for this year’s PodFest and I plan to hunker down in the SquareSpace Podcast Lab like some kind of great podcasting Jabba the Hutt. It’s September 18-20th at the Sofitel Hotel in Beverly Hills, and you can get tickets and more details at Eventbrite. I’ll be interviewing podcasters and ne’er-do-wells, so I hope you get a chance to stop by and say hello.

BTW, if you’re curious about what I do when I’m NOT on the Succotash microphone, crammed into Studio F and chatting at you, there’s a fun little article that came out this week over at http://SmartUp.life, entitled, The Man Who Named The BlackBerry. That’d be me. And the piece talks about some of the other brand names I’ve helped bring into the world from out of my brain.

Special Offer (Sort Of)

Maybe you’ve noticed that Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, doesn’t drop every week. Hell, or every two weeks, for that matter. I’d like to do it more often. Really I would. But work is tough and pays pretty well, too. So that’s where I have to put the majority of my focus. But it doesn’t always have to be that way. And you can help. If you click on the Donate button on the homesite, then kick us whatever you can afford to give in order to help us pay for the stuff that podcasters pay for to keep all of this going, I’ll start pushing myself harder to get these shows cranked out more often. Here's the deal: For every month that the Donate button brings in enough to cover our Succotash nut – that’s about 60 bucks — I will push out 4 consecutive weeks of this show, by hook or by crook. So get clicking!

Clips

WTF w/guest President ObamaWe’d be remiss to continue on without acknowledging perhaps one of the most important milestones in comedy podcasting: A sitting president has appeared on one. I’m sure you’ve heard about President Barack Obama’s visit to “the garage” to talk to Marc Maron. No matter what you think about Obama OR Maron, this is a Big Deal. I reviewed this episode for both Splitsider.com and Huffington Post Entertainment, and I thought we’d go ahead and play just a little bit for those few who haven’t heard it yet. This is right toward the end of the show and Marc gets the opportunity to ask The President about his favorite comedians.

Pistol Shrimps RadioLast week I found a new podcast from a couple of the gents from Superego, a long time Succotash favorite. Matt Gourley and Mark McConville have teamed up to bring you play-by-play women’s basketball. Sort of. It’s a lot of improvised nonsense and hilarity AND it actually is done courtside at the Pistol Shrimps games in LA. I’ve got a sample I pulled off the latest episode and the hosts are joined by fellow Superegoist and the hardest working man in podcasting, Paul F. Tompkins.

A Twilight World of Ultimate SmoothnessRipped from our Tweetsack comes something completely different. It’s a 6-episode mini-series called A Twilight World of Ultimate Smoothness. I got a note from the show’s producer, David Wilcox, who explains the show as “chronicling the decline and fall of a veteran R&B/smooth jazz DJ named Greg Willis. It's a psychedelic, surreal recreation of late-night commercial FM radio, complete with requests/dedications, in-studio interviews, station IDs, ads, and tons and tons of music. Imagine taking some of the darker elements of British comedy (Chris Morris' "Blue Jam" or some of the Alan Partridge stuff) and wedging them into an Art Laboe/Quiet Storm-style radio format and you'll kinda have an idea of what we're up to. The show was written by myself and Johanna Hyman -- we previously worked together on a couple episodes of the Radiotopia podcast The Truth. A musician named John Schmersal, who currently plays in the band Caribou and was formerly in Brainiac and Enon, did our music and sound design.” I downloaded and binge listened the six episodes across a couple of days of commuting to work. It’s like listening to a real radio station with some odd technical difficulties and a radio personality who is unraveling before your ears. But funny.

Deviants ChurchAssociate producer Tyson Saner tossed this next clip onto the stack for today’s show, and I confess I don’t know much about. And my search for their website turns up…nothing. It’s like this show has taken an abrupt right hand turn into the Podcast Graveyard.This show seems to be DOA. No website. It is still findable on iTunes, but the last posted episode was back in early April. And the last tweet from their account was a week after that. We’ll check in periodically and see if there’s a pulse for the Deviant’s Church.

Rob and Craig over at The Clutch & Wiggle Experience have been friends and fans of Succotash pretty much since the time we started over three years ago. They regularly replay the show on CWERadio.com and so isn’t it high time we got back to seeing what THEY’RE up to? Even if they had to send in the a clip themselves? Recently on The Clutch and Wiggle Experience, Rob and Craig discussed the recent passing of legendary BB King – and that his family has the feeling he was poisoned to death.

Strong OpinionsI got a request from Mary Sasson, host and producer of the Strong Opinions podcast, asking if I’d do a review of her show. She writes: “The premise of the podcast is I invite on two comedian and we discuss our opinions of everyday topics ranging from belts to milk and everything in between. Some past guests have included stand-ups like Jake Weisman, and tons of UCB performers like Nicole Byer, Drew Tarver, Will Hines, Betsy Sodaro, and Alex Fernie.” I will try to get around to reviewing the show – it sounds pretty funny – but for now I’ll do the next best thing: Clip it.The episode featured LaurenLapkus and Mary Holland.

The World of MindshaftHe’s got his teeth back into the world of podcasting. Our old pal, Nigel Boydell, was having some dental challenges a while back and had started a show called the HMS CodCast, which he wrote and then had various podcasting friends narrate and do the character voices. (I did one. I think it was the best episode, personally.) Well, he’s got some shiny new choppers, and Nigel is back with The World of Mindshaft. It’s a fun, bizarre, ramble through the mind of character who is clearly…well, different in the head, let’s say.

Date SpeedingFriend of Succotash Jason Duplissey recently started his own podcast, separate from The Duvet Show, called Date Speeding. He plays the Reverend Rich Hugh, and the advice he dispenses about dating is just plain wrong. There’s no homesite up yet for Date Speeding, so find the right Reverend Hugh and his so-called advice on iTunes. There’s also a Facebook page.

Four ListenersWe got yet another clip in via the Tweetsack, this one from a podcast called The Four Listeners…featuring three guys. Chris Spear, Zeth Weissman, and Corey Gantzhorn. They’ve been up and running for about four years and just celebrated their 200th episode. Congratulations! They tell me that their format is “Something Must Be Done About…” and then they have a new topic every week with only TWO rules to avoid about the topic: 1) No politics, and 2) No religion. Everything else is fair game. In this clip, sent in from the 200th episode, is some rambling about SportsTalk radio.

Don’t Worry: It’s Only The End of The WorldWe have another podcast miniseries in the works, but I’ve only heard a little bit of it so far. It’s called Don’t Worry: It’s Only The End of The World. It’s put together by Alfie Shaw and, well, it’s a self-contained series that you can binge-listener to very easily. Artie was good enough to send along a clip. You can find more at their homesite, which has a very long URL.

--

Another episode of Succotash Clips is now history. In the can. Kaput. I’ll have another one coming up pretty quick. Even quicker if you guys hit that old devil Donate button on our http://SuccotashShow.com homesite. Remember, if we clear 60 bucks, I’ll crank out an episode a week for 4 consecutive weeks. See how that tastes, right?

Until next time, thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:06:54yespodcast,joe,comedy,obama,marc,bill,pants,clips,maron,succotash,hershon,paulino,heywatt,hdnersonsSuccotash Clips Epi110: Bringin' Back The ClipsTue, 02 Jun 2015 05:34:37 +0000Yes, it’s me. Marc Hershon. Your host and rack jobber for Epi110 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. This is a Succotash Clips episode — finally back after two Succotash Chats epis — which means we’re featuring clip after clip after clip from comedy podcasts scattered all over the webiverse.

A lot of them were harvested by our intrepid Associate Producer Tyson Saner. I scraped up a few. Some were sent in by comedy podcasters themselves, or uploaded to us directly via our upload site, at http://hightail.com/u/succotash.

One of them isn’t even a comedy podcast, but the host asked if I’d feature a clip and I figured “Screw the network fatcats and bigwigs! This is MY show, dammit, and I’ll do what I please!” That’s right. This one non-comedy podcast clip is going to be played come Hell or high water! But just a little bit later in the show.

What shows will we be clipping in this epi, mighten you ask? Here’s what in store: The Comatose Podcast, Eric And Stacey, Excuse My Adlib, The Blank Planet, We’re From The Internet, and The Wrong Foot Podcast.

Burst O' Durst

In addition to the clips we have a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst with comedian and social commentator Will Durst. He talks about who the hell would want to be President of the United States, and also a quick lesson on several advantages and disadvantages of being a Baby Boomer. Also, if you’re going to be in or around San Francisco at the end of June, you can catch Durst giving a workshop as part of the Beatnick Shindig going on at Fort Mason. It’s on Saturday, June 27th, just one hour from 10:30 to 11:30 AM and the cost is just 20 bucks. Hop over to http://BeatnickShindig.com and grab yourself some tickets.

Bill The Podcaster

Our announcer, Bill Heywatt, has come out of the booth and has embarked on his own podcast adventure. He's still with the show, but you can now catch some mini-episodes of The Bill Heywatt Show as part of The Strange Times Podcast, with Davian Dent and Kat Sorens. We feature his very first episode in it's entirety on this show.

Clips

The Blank PlanetThe way Bill even came up the idea of starting his own show was during a discussion that was going on when he and I were guests recently of Davian Dent on his new podcast The Blank Planet. "Disucssion" is a term I use loosely - our chat degraded rapidly and then those Brits started prodding Bill to start his own podcast.

The Wrong Foot Comedy PodcastWe got a clip from the The Wrong Foot Comedy Podcast, sent in from executive producer Robin Brecker. They’ve got a big ol’ cast over there pulling off some delightful audio sketch comedy. I’m not sure who’s in this piece from their Epi194. It’s called “Unlucky Lou”.

Excuse My AdlibTyson grabbed us a sample of the Excuse My Adlib, which their website describes as “an online hiphop-based talk show brought to you…by you – the fans of hiphop and hosted by Rozay, Big Therm, and J Boss.” Well, that’s Succotash to a T. Big fan. Tyson says, “The selected clip is from the middle of a discussion about Trevor Noah” – soon to be replacing John Stewart on The Daily Show – “and is regarding whether or not someone's social media presence is a fair reflection of their non-virtual personality or being.”

Comatose PodcastThe hiphop thing was a little step away form our usual fare of comedy podcasts. So I’m going to slide a little further over to bring you a clip – a very self-contained clip – from The Comatose Podcast. Executive producer John Bauer wasn’t even going to send it in, he just likes Succotash, but I said go ahead, let’s do this thing. There are a number of people behind the scenes and on the microphones for this show, which is – according to their homesite – “the result of creative people who neglected getting into creative fields finding a way to collaborate and release their pent up energy. It’s one part learning to express yourself one part letting yourself go and opening up the expression that’s already there.” Cool. Heavy. Heavy and cool.

We’re From The InternetPodcasting has really supplanted radio for a lot of people, and it’s begun to seek specific progamming niches in some case. We got a note from Kev and Steve, the hosts of We’re From The Internet, and they asked us to clip them. They refer to their show as “a daily comedy breakfast show” where they answer the most pressing question of the day — whatever it might be and wherever it might come from. Fair enough. Back in Epi9 of their show, the question was, “How big a house do you need if you want a pet panda?” Here’s a clip that has little to do with the original question but still manages to hover around the topic of animals.

The Eric & Stacey "Talking Rubbish" PodcastRipped from the Tweetsack, this clip comes to us from The Eric & Stacey "Talking Rubbish" Podcast. They used our instant upload option and got their clip to us just by going to http://Hightail.com/u/succotash. Their note with the clip reads: “Hi there Succotash! Got a clip for ya. We were in the middle of our ‘Dumb fuck of the week’ segment. The dumb tweet Eric read jogged his memory about what they opened the show with ( Eric's job at the car dealership) and had some more details to add. The clip is from episode 102 ‘well...that was gross’ of Eric and Stacey - Talking rubbish” Thanks, Eric and Stacey! Someday we may even learn what your last names are.

Podcast GraveyardTyson dreamed up this segment, which I love, because it pays homage to some late, great podcasts that – although they may have been beloved at one time – have gone away for one reason or another. In most cases, we may never know why. The latest show to lie in state is an old favorite of Succotash, mainly because we had some great interactions with the host over the past couple of years and even a couple of free beers at the very first Los Angeles Podcast Festival. I’m talking about PodCRASH! with Chris Gore, the same guy who started FilmThreat magazine years ago.

That’s it for this edition of Succotash Clips, friends. I know it was a long drought between shows this time – longer than usual – but I’m trying to get back on the beam and I already have a full rack of clips locked and loaded for another episode real soon.

In the meantime, enjoy, tell your friends, and thanks for passing the Succotash!

This was SUPPOSED to be a Succotash Clips episode but, along the way to doing that, I managed to get an interview in with Greg Proops, host of The Smartest Man in The World podcast and a veteran of TV’s Whose Line Is It Anyway.

Greg's new book, The Smartest Book in The World, hits both online and bricks n’ mortar bookstores this week, so I’ve made a command decision to push back the clips for another week or so and put up this edition of Succotash Chats instead.

As you will quickly discern, we were in a rather noisy Hollywood eatery — the King's Road Cafe — and I have done my best to filter out as much of the background noise as I could, but it’s still going to sound like you’re eating lunch at the table with us. It’s also a lengthy interview, so you’re probably strapping in for the longest Succotash show to date. Relax. And if you want to take it in over the course of several sittings, be my guest.

BURST O' DURST

Also this episode we've got a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with political comedian and social commentator Will Durst. (Don't forget to follow Will on Twitter @WillDurst!) In the first he announces the official start of the Presidential Derby and in the second he goes off on what he calls "oversharers".

LATEST PODCAST REVIEW

This past week, for both Huffington Post and Splitsider.com, I reviewed Gilbert Gottfried'sAwesome Colossal Podcast, with guest Lewis Black, recorded live at Caroline's comedy club in New York City. You can follow either link to that review and try to check out that episode if you can - it's pretty damn funny!

HELP A BROTHER OUT

Podcasts don't grow on trees nor do they pay for themselves. If you want to help keep Succotash growing and going, please click the Donate button at http://SuccotashShow.com and kick us a few doubloons. If you want to help us out a little more indirectly, you can click on the Amazon banner at the top of our page and when you buy something at Amazon.com, we'll get a little taste.

NEXT TIME

We'll be back soon with Epi110, which will be a Succotash Clips show, chock full of comedy podcast clips from around the internet.

In the meantime, thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:55:49yespodcast,the,comedy,in,book,world,greg,marc,man,will,clips,proops,durst,smartest,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi 108.5: Halfisode to NowhereSun, 19 Apr 2015 06:42:01 +0000Greetings, friend! I'm Marc Hershon, your host and driver for Epi 108.5 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. And this is one of our in-between "halfisodes", recorded during my recent road trip down Interstate 5 from San Francisco to Los Angeles,

Been a while since I recorded one of these. No clips. No chats. Just me, in Studio F (my Fiat 500), tooling down the darkened highway in the middle of the night, blabbering into my digital recorder.

In this episode I talk about podcasts, comedy podcasts, the patent troll that was coming after podcasters in a big way the past couple of years being stopped cold, my take on a few specific podcasts, my teasing a maybe interview with comedian/actor/podcaster Rick Overton (that didn't come off), teasing a full-fledged interview with comedian/actor/podcaster Greg Proops that DID come off the following day, and a classic Henderson's Pants ad (thrown in mainly as filler…)

There's a lot of road noise which I have filtered out about as much as I can, but you'll likely find it pretty distracting, so apologies in advance.

The entire halfisode runs a little over 20 minutes and means so little in the entirety of what Succotash is all about that I'm not even displacing Epi108 with special guest David Feldman - my promos for that episode will continue.

Please support Succotash by clicking on the Donate button on http://SuccotashShow.com. You can also use the Amazon.com banner at the top of our homepage to do you online shopping and that will give us some nifty kickbacks. Or purch some merch through our Succotashery, also reachable via our homepage.

This particular ‘sode is an edition of Succotash Chats, which means we have precious little in the way of comedy podcast clips — I won’t lie, there is a bit of clippage in the show — but we’re mostly looking at a thick n’ meaty interview headed your way with none other than David Feldman — comedian, writer, and host of The David Feldman Show.

We put this interview in the can a couple of weeks ago, via Skype, as David has been habitating in New York City while he works on The Jack & Triumph Show for Adult Swim. I’ve known David since he arrived in San Francisco from New York to pursue his standup comedy career, back in the mid-1980s, and I’ve been meaning to get him on the show for sometime but he’s mostly been in LA while I’ve mostly been in SF and our paths haven’t crossed all that often.

He's been doing things like writing on TV shows and for award shows. It's a pleasure to have him as this episode's special guest.

We’ve got some other bits of show to share with you, too. We’ve got a Boozin’ With Bill segment, in which our announcer, Bill Haywatt, mixes up "The Roman Candle", a new libation with me at the Studio P wet bar.

We also have a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst, with political comedian and social commentarian Will Durst. He sounds off about Indiana's "religious freedom act" in the first pass, and then offers some simple solutions for a few big problems we face today in the second.

There’s a classic Henderson’s Pants commercial and we’ll dip into the Tweetsack to sniff your cards and letters, emails and tweets.

BTW, if you’d like to hear me get interviewed, along with our esteemed booth announcer, Bill Heywatt, listen no further than Episode 8 of The Blank Planet podcast. It’s hosted by our pal, Davian Dent, over in the UK. Matt Bubbles was on there from England hanging out, too, and the four of us had a smashing good time. (Since it’s got ME on it, I figure I can play a clip, even though this is officially a Succotash Chats episode.

If you've had a chance to download or stream our show, I wonder if you might do us a favor? Whatever source you accessed this episode from, it would be great if you would use their rating system to give us a nice report. If it’s iTunes, you could rate and review us – that helps our visibility tremendously, especially considering there are only about 100,000 or more comedy podcasts. Literally. If you’re streaming us from Stitcher, you can give us the ol’ thumbs up. SoundCloud? That would be a heart click for us. If you’re listening through our Facebook page, go ahead and Share us. You get the idea.

Thanks for passing the Succotash.

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:24:19yespodcast,interviews,joe,comedy,david,marc,bill,with,studio,p,pants,clips,feldman,tyson,chats,saner,hendersons,succotash,hershon,paulino,boozin,haywatt,tweetsackSuccotash Clips Epi107: Clippin' Down The Bunny TrailMon, 06 Apr 2015 04:35:49 +0000It’s me. Marc Hershon, your host and busboy for Epi107 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. Since this is an edition of Succotash Clips, we have a Easter basket full of comedy podcast clips on hand to unleash on your ears.

Many thanks, as always, to our faithful associate producer, Tyson Saner, for grabbing so many of these for us. And also to those of you comedy podcasters who sent in your own clips OR even someone else’s clips — that’s what we got this week, from our friend in the UK, Davian Dent.

Davian sent along a pair of clips from shows other than his Strange Times podcast or his Bitter Sound show or his The Blank Planet podcast. Such a show of podcaster generosity has inspired a new feature we kick off in this episode.

And we’ve got a jam-packed epi for you, including clips from Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast, Angelos & Barry, The Angry Chimp, Casa Mirth, Dark Angels and Pretty Freaks, Date Speeding, Everyone Has A Podcast, Hypernonsense, The Joe Rogan Experience, The Radio Dan Show, and Who The Eff Is Sal Calanni podcast.

In addition we have another visit to the Podcast Graveyard to pay homage to a late, great show, as well as unboxing a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian & social commentator Will Durst (you can also catch Will tweeting @WillDurst!), the Tweetsack, and a new commercial from our friends at Henderson’s Pants, who are sponsoring this edition and promoting their new Money Maker Pants.

Man, you’d think with this much show we’d be charging extra but, no, you’re getting all of this great entertainment for free! But that doesn’t mean you have to take advantage of our largess. If you’d like to give a little back, visit our homesite, at http://SuccotashShow.com, and give our Donate button a quick click to throw us a few doubloons. Or while you’re there you can click the Amazon banner at the top of the page to do your online shopping and they’ll kick us back a little piece of the action. OR click on the link to our Succotashery and purch some merch with our keen new Season 2 logo on it! See how many ways you can help to be a part of this show in a very real and financial way?

Podcast Graveyard

There are thousand upon thousand of podcasts out on the podwaves. Many of them in the past have had trouble sustaining themselves over the long haul. And many that are currently being produced now will eventually be gone. But we’d hate for any podcast to be forgotten, which is why we have open the Podcast Graveyard. This episode, our associate producer Tyson Saner has exhumed Making It With Riki Lindhome, a podcast that seems to have ended without fanfare in December of 2013. Riki is getting a lot of heat as one half of the Garfunkel and Oates comedy team, so maybe that’s what pulled her away from her show on the podwaves. Her last entry was Epi74 and her guest was Mike Farah, the president of production at Funny or Die.

Clips

Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal PodcastWe hadn’t visited Gilbert Gottfried and his Amazing Colossal Podcast since it first dropped almost a year ago. But I got a note a couple of weeks ago from friend-of-the-show Shawn Marek over at the Sideshow Network, where Amazing Colossal lives. Shawn’s a big hotshot producer over there and he wanted to let me know that TV wildman and loose cannon Dan Harmon, the creator of Community as well as Adult Swim’s Rick & Morty (as well as host of his own Harmontown podcast) was on Gilbert’s show. Now you get to hear a snippet from that show, courtesy of Mr. Marek, when Dan explains the whole magilla that happened between himself and Chevy Chase.

The Joe Rogan ExperienceWe’ve featured The Joe Rogan Experience a few times over the almost three years our show’s been around but not for a while. In this snippet, Joe Rogan's guest Bert Kreischer, a comedian and podcaster in his own right, along with co-host Brian Redban, chatter about comedian Colin Quinn, a type of comedy appears to be replaced, and our memories are likened to a computer’s hard drive.

The Radio Dan ShowDan Delgado over at The Radio Dan Show has taken advantage of our instant upload link to shoot a couple of snippets from his podcast over to us. They’re short clips – less than a minute each, so I decided to make you a Radio Dan Sandwich or "danwich". I’ve wrapped both snippets around a tasty chunk of chat that I had with Dan last September in the Podcast Lab where we were both staked out during the 3rd Annual LA Podcast Festival.

Date SpeedingSomeone else who took advantage of our Succotash instant upload was Jason Duplissea, who was one-half of the What Duvet Said podcast. (That show’s been on hiatus – Jason says it may get an overhaul and be kicked back into gear again. Hmm. If not, we might find What Duvet Said in the Podcast Graveyard!) Anyway, he’s got a new podcast up and running called Date Speeding hosted by the Reverend Rich Hugh. He says it’s advice for online daters and has a kind of Jack Handey/Deep Thoughts vibe, but with what he calls “a healthy dose of explicit language.”

Angelos & BarryIn a world of confusion, media bombardment and mixed messages, it’s good to know the great philosopher's tradition still exists. Much like 70s comedy legends Derek & Clive before them, Angelos & Barry present a truly hysterical meeting of minds. Angelos Epithemiou was previously on cult UK comedy show Shooting Stars and Barry From Watford has graced TV, radio, and even our friend Davian Dent's shows The Bitter Sound and Strange Times. In this clip, the two discuss the possibly apocryphal events surrounding porn legend "King Dong" on a British 70s evening light entertainment show.

The Casa Mirth PodcastIn this clip from the first episode of the new and second series of The Casa Mirth Podcast, Dr. Norman Trousers and River Zambezi discuss the differences between woman's swimwear and underwear.

Everyone Has A PodcastAnother Tyson grab this week is a clip from Everyone Has A Podcast, with hosts Adam and Byron who, apparently, have no last names. According to their website, the guys are slowly building themselves a recording studio but started out doing their show by recording it into an iPhone. This clip is from their Epi3, entitled “Butt Crunch”.

The Angry Chimp ShowOur friends Stu and company down under at The Angry Chimp Show uploaded us a clip from season 2 of their monkeyshines, which has just drawn to a close this week. Stu sent along a note with the clip that reads: “Hi, thought I would submit a clip from the second season of The Angry Chimp Show for your consideration should you be short on clips for upcoming epis. Hope you are well and keep up the good work! Stu” Thanks, Stu! These guys are a lot of fun and know how to work the audio sketch medium.

Who The Eff Is Sal Calanni?There’s a podcast we’ve featured a time or two before that’s had a couple of permutations, including being called The Sal & Angelo Show. Now it’s called Who The Eff is Sal Calanni? and features San Francisco comedian Sal Calanni. He recently hit his 200th episode so I thought it was high time to check in, and he’s got a great story in the episode featuring the process he had to go through to audition for a movie that’s being shot in the Bay Area.

Hyper NonsenseThis clip has a bit of a mysterious history. It was uploaded directly to us and with the show's information, and that it was from a recent episode of Hyper Nonsense. So I tweeted out a thank you and heard back from one of one of the co-hosts who claims that they never submitted a clip and where did it come from? Who knows, really. The hosts, Shawn Thorpe and his wife, Jen, are podcast vets, having started a podcast in 2005 called The Phantomfeed. Then they moved and launched a new show called Hyper Nonsense in 2006, which ran until 2009. In 2010 they started a new ‘cast called GeminiDragon, which ended in 2012, at which point they kicked off No Market Radio. Shawn wasn’t happy with that concept and so, in 2013, he and Jen decided to breathe new life into Hyper Nonsense and they swear on a stack of websites, that this one is here to stay.

Dark Angels and Pretty FreaksI wonder if it’s time for a new adage, something along the lines of “the couple that podcasts together stays together”. There are a LOT of married couples in the podcast game, like our friends Travis and Brandi Clark from Tiny Odd Conversations, or Shawn and Jen from Hypernonsense that we also featured this show. There’s a show out of nearby Napa, California, called Dark Angels and Pretty Freaks, hosted by Annaleis and her husband Neil C. They’ve been really nice about retweeting a lot of our Succotash tweets but this is the first chance we’ve had to feature their show. The tagline on their website states, “Helping to Kill Your Commute”. It’s a conversational-style show with topics ranging all over the place, a lot of it focusing on things they do together. So maybe it’s kind of like real time couples’ therapy or something. I pulled this clip of them talking about a magic show they saw during a recent trip to Reno.

That’s going to do it for Succotash Epi107. Thanks to our esteemed associate producer Tyson Saner, our producer/engineer Joe Paulino, and our booth announcer Bill Haywatt. Next time, in Epi108, I will feature my recent interview with comedy writer extraordinaire and podcaster David Feldman, and we’ll also have a Boozin’ with Bill segment, where our announcer will mix up a concoction he calls “The Roman Candle”. In the meantime, please feel free to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:21:43yespodcast,dan,and,the,radio,show,joe,comedy,date,experience,a,is,barry,dark,pretty,everyone,marc,bill,angels,who,has,amazing,clips,chimp,casa,sal,colossal,angry,rogan,eff,angelos,freaks,hendersons,speeding,succotash,hershon,calanni,mirth,haywattSuccotash Chats Epi106: Long Distancin' with Kevin BartiniThu, 19 Mar 2015 18:23:57 +0000This is the blog entry for Epi106 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, and this is an edition of Succotash Chats, for those of you keeping track. This edition features an interview with our special guest, comedian and podcaster Kevin Bartini.

As a comedian, Kevin is also the warmup guy for The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, which stepped into the space vacated by The Colbert Report over on Comedy Central. Larry is killing it in that spot with his show, and Kevin is killing it, too, whipping the audience into a lather before the cameras come on.

In addition, he has a new comedy CD out — The Unintentionally While Album — which I’ll play a track from coming up. AND he’s the guy who kicked off the campaign to get the street in New York where comic great George Carlin grew up named after him, which we talk about in our chat.

Later on in the show we dip briefly into the Tweetsack and we feature our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian and social commentator Will Durst further along in the show as well, talking about Hillary Clinton's too-many-phones email woes. Also, this episode is sponsored by Henderson's High Waister Pants.

This week, for both Splitsider and Huffington Post Entertainment, I’m reviewing Gilbert Gottfriend’s Amazing Colossal Podcast with Gilbert’s guest Dan Harmon, the creator of TV’s Community and Rick & Morty. In the course of that review I mention that I’m also listening to Matt Gourley’s I Was There Too with his guest Jenette Goldstein from Aliens and Terminator 2, and also the Dark Angels & Pretty Freaks podcast.

Not too much more for me to add from the world of podcasting until we get into the Tweetsack a little later. But I did want to mention that, this past week, I started teaching a beginner level improv class at my day job and it’s turning out to be pretty fun. We do it one night a week for a couple of hours after work. And I’m showing how they can use the precepts and techniques of improv to improve presentation and brainstorming skills. It’s the topic of a new book I’ve SLOWLY been trying to pull together. And I mention it because if you work for a company that you think might benefit from these sorts of techniques, I’m available to speak and teach. It’s especially easy if your company is located in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I can travel as well. If you’re interested in finding out more, you can email me at marc@SuccotashShow.com.

That's about it. Short blog this week. So let me use this extra space to ask you to jump up to our space on iTunes in the podcast department and please rate and review us. A tasty review from you goes a long way to letting friends and strangers know that Succotash is out there, just waiting for them to enjoy all of our podcast goodness. And we'd really appreciate it!

Pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:09:20yespodcast,interview,kevin,comedy,marc,o,pants,clips,burst,clip,durst,hendersons,bartini,succotash,hershon,willdurstSuccotash Clips Epi105: Mini-Chattin' with Paul MecurioFri, 06 Mar 2015 01:15:17 +0000I hate to do this right out of the gate, but I have to start the show off with an apology to our network and the affiliates. And, of course, you – the listener. This edition is meant to be an episode of Succotash Clips, wherein we feature clips, just clip, and nothing but clips. But I have a bit of a chat to toss in, too.

It’s just a smidge of a chat, really.

Friend of the show, past guest, fellow podcaster, and comedian Paul Mecurio called me up and said he was heading for the San Francisco Punchline this week (March 4-7) and could we chat up his appearance. I don’t know that we’ve got that kind of impact on an audience, but I do know that there are Succotashians in the Bay Area so I agreed and we did it.

It was via Skype from New York and the only worse than the quality of a Skype call is a Skype call where one of the people has laryngitis.

Paul also has a new comedy CD out, called It’s Not Me, It’s The World, so we’ll hear a track off of that as well. But after that, I SWEAR the rest of the show is clips. For reals.

Except of a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian and social commentator Will Durst. Oh, and a Henderson’s Pants ad. And the Tweetsack. But the rest? All clips.

The delay for this ‘sode of Succotash making it to your ears was because I was suffering a miserable bout of laryngitis. Every other ailment in the world wouldn’t matter so, of course, a podcaster gets the one thing that keeps him off mic — no voice. You’ll get to hear how that sounded though, because I barely had my voice back last week when I interview Paul Mercurio.

Here’s what’s in the bushel basket o’ clippage we have in store for this show: Pass The Gravy,Proudly Resents, Sibling Rivalry, Soda Press, The Geep And Gam Show, and This Damn World. In addition, we unveil our NEW segment this week! It’s the brainchild of our associate producer Tyson Saner and we call it the Podcast Graveyard! When the time is right, we’ll feature a clip from a podcast that is no longer with us.

CLIPS

Pass The GravyKicking off this show’s official rasher of clips with a show that requested we give them a listen. So Tyson wandered out into the podcast wilderness and brought back a sample of Pass The Gravy, with hosts Alex Middleton - I assume no relation to England’s Princess Kate Middleton – and his partner in crime Curtis Chaffin, also – it is assumed - not related to Kate Middleton. On their website they claim to solve the world’s problems one episode at a time, so it’s nice to know someone is taking care of those matters. They also claim that it is “the podcast nobody is listening to and everyone is talking about”. In this dollop from Pass The Gravy – and, really, what could be more natural than gravy and succotash – the hosts get into dolphin love. Deep into it.

Proudly ResentsWe haven’t featured friend–of-SuccotashAdam Spiegelman and his podcast Proudly Resents in a while. And Adam knows that because he listens. So being a proactive podcaster, he sent us in a clip from his recent interview, a second visit with director Eric Schaeffer. (I’m doing a little back-to-back with Proudly Resents this week. This clip was from his show about a month ago, but I’m also reviewing a more recent episode for This Week In Comedy Podcasts on Splitsider.com and for the Huffington Post, where his guest was TV producer Todd Yasui and there’s some amazing behind the scenes stuff revealed about The Tonight Show when Jay Leno was just starting out as the host as well as some revealing “inside baseball” info about the nuts and bolts of talk show television.)

Soda PressWe started getting some very kind retweets and mentions from a new podcast out there called Soda Press, hosted by a guy named Andy Thomas. And then he went and gave us a big ol’ shoutout at the top of a recent episode. So the least we can do is clip him for you. Soda Press episodes are pretty short, and feature Andy monologing about a given topic which spins off into related microrants. We have a snippet of him going off about gross gym wipedown towels.

Sibling RivalryKudos to our friends at the Sibling Rivalry podcast – that would be Jeremy, Stacy, and Aaron — for being savvy enough to know that the EASIEST way to get your comedy podcast clip on our show is to use our custom upload URL through Hightail (http://www.hightail.com/u/Succotash). That’s what our pals over at SibRiv used to get this clip to us, from a recent episode where they’re talking about some unique offers from strip clubs. (I have to also issue an apology to the SibRiv guys. Jeremy and Stacy were good enough to join me in the Podast Lab at the 3rd Annual LA Podcast Festival at the end of LAST SEPTEMBER for an interview. And I still haven’t gotten a chance to play it on the show — along with about a half a dozen others. At this point, I may have to issue the interviews as special Succotash Chats halfisodes and just dump them out there. Sorry, guys…)

The Geep & Gam ShowHosts Geep and Gam run their podcast out of…well, I don’t where the heck they’re from. But they asked us via Twitter if we’ve give’em a listen and clip ‘em and that’s what our stalwart associate producer Tyson Saner has done. In this slice, the show is playing host to two other podcast hosts, Diamond Dave and Aaron Corbett of Canada’s The Cool Story Show.

This Damn WorldAnother show that reached out via Twitter and asked if we’d give ‘em a sniff is the This Damn World podcast, hosted by Dom and Jenn. iTunes describes the show as “a longform conversational podcast” with topics ranging from news, life, and all around creative. The clip we have is from last month, snipped by Tyson out of an episode called “The One Where We Get Sweaty”.

Okie dokie. Succotash Clips with just a side of chat is kaputski. If you’re in the San Francisco area, remember to catch our friend Paul Mecurio this weekend, that’s March 4th through the 7th, at the Punchline. We’ll be back soon with an episode of Succotash Chats, where I’ll be speaking with comedian/podcaster and warmup guy for The Nightly Show,Kevin Bartini. See you then. In the meantime, please remember to pass the Succotash!

Here in San Francisco, the 14th Annual San Francisco Sketchfest just wrapped up. One of the groups making their return to the ‘fest was the Thrilling Adventure Hour and, for the third year in a row, I sat down with Hal Lublin, the official announcery guy for TAA.

We catch up with what he’s been doing since we chatted last year and then launch into a pretty wide ranging discussion about podcasts, comedy, who would we cast if they made a movie out of The Greatest American Hero, a moment with comedian Bil Dwyer who happened to stop by, Big Time Wrestling, and a bunch of other stuff.

Prior to the interview, I pulled down the audio from a video Hal did back in 2006 for the company where he works as an IT admin. And in a series of videos for the company, he comically appears as Hal the IT Admin. It's pretty funny for a corporate video. Since this blog is a visual medium, here's the video itself:

(Apologies in advance for the quality of the audio in this episode's interview. Hal and I were in the lobby of the Hotel Tomo in Japantown and there was music piped into the lobby which we couldn’t do anything about. Hopefully, after listening for a few minutes, you’ll tune most of that distraction out.)

Podcast Graveyard Teaser

If you’re looking for comedy podcast clips, we’re lining up a full rack of them in upcoming Epi105, including a brand new feature that our associate producer, Tyson Saner, cooked up called the Podcast Graveyard. Tyson has been discovering the bones of so many discarded podcasts floating around on the internet that he’s going to start exhume the a few dusty clips and we’ll start sharing them with you.

Burst O' Durst

This episode we feature our resident comedian/social commentator Will Durst in our Burst O' Durst segment. In it, he sounds off about a modern version of the tar pits, and the types of dinosaurs they’re taking down.

Henderson's Pet Pants

This episode of Succotash is brought to you by Henderson’s Pet Pants. Unfortunately, their check once again failed to clear at the bank, so we’re asking for your help to keep Succotash going. Clicking on the Donate button on our http://SuccotashShow.com homesite. You’ll be whisked off to our secure PayPal site where you can, in the privacy of your own mouse, decide how much you’d like to kick into the Succotash saucepan. Every bit helps to defray the costs of production, posting, promotion and other things that start with “p”. Plus you’ll get a hearty thank you and a shout out right here on the show.

Until we return next time, with Epi105 of Succotash Clips, please take time out to Like us on Facebook, rate AND review us up on iTunes, heart us on SoundCloud, thumbs up us on Stitcher, buy our merch through the Succotashery, click our Donate button, and shop on Amazon by clicking on the banner at the top of the page on our homesite, http://SuccotashShow.com.

And thanks, as always, for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:04:07yescomedy,podcasts,pet,marc,pants,clips,hal,chats,hendersons,succotash,hershon,lublin,tweetsackSuccotash Clips Epi 103: Boozin' With BIll ReduxTue, 10 Feb 2015 14:29:19 +0000It’s me, Marc Hershon, and I'll be your host and concierge for Epi103 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. This is a Succotash Clips episode, where we feature clips from comedy podcasts and DON’T feature any interviews with anyone.

Although we do have a new Boozin’ With Bill segment, where I pay a visit to our announcer Bill Heywatt in the Studio P wet bar and he mixes up one of his alcohol-laden concoctions. This time out we’ll hear him mix up something he calls "Groovy Love-In Punch".

Why Not Network?

If you didn't know it before, Succotash is an independent podcast, as are so many of the shows that you can find strewn across the internet. But it’s funny – I was asked not once but twice this past week by a couple of different podcasters what network we’re on and, when they found out we’re NOT part of a network, why aren’t we?

I don’t know, actually.

I approached a couple of networks fairly early on in our operation and there was little or no interest – I think, at the time, they really wanted shows that were pulling significant numbers to help bolster the network’s ratings. Now, of course, there are networks like the Wolfpop Network, which came out of the gate with shows that were brand new.

I’m not opposed to having this show on a podcast network. It would certainly keep me honest and having to maintain a strict release schedule. Plus we’d probably have sponsors and might even start bringing in a little money instead of having to pay it out every month. And there’d be added publicity, too.

I’m not going to start knocking on doors right now, though. I have to imagine most of the networks know who and what Succotash is by now. Maybe if we were a review show we’d be a hotter commodity but that’s not what we’re about – and THAT could be the problem. Networks want listeners for their shows so why would they carry a show that’s letting people know what comedy podcasts are out there in the world NOT on their network?

So, until further notice, Succotash remains a proudly solo podcast, and our main mission of letting people know about the wide variety of comedy shows that are out there is still very firmly in place. Feel free to show your support for our efforts to do so by rating and reviewing us on iTunes, giving us a “thumbs up” on Stitcher, “hearting” us on SoundCloud, Liking our Facebook page, and/or clicking the Donate button on our http://SuccotashShow.com homepage.

A Sound Experiment

Epi103 might sound a little different to those of you who have been listening to Succotash for a while. I'm giving an app called BossJock a try this time out, which is the equivalent of have a radio studio in your smartphone or tablet. The set-up is pretty simple and really applicable a show like ours, where we play a lot of clips.

I'm not going to wax too technical, but BossJock lets you load up audio clips of any length and they are available much like old-style tape cartridges ("carts") were in my old radio days. There's the ability to record through either the devices microphone or a plug-in mic of your choosing and there you are — all set up in your studio, with the controls at your fingertips.

The app give you a maximum of 15 "carts" with a phone and 35 with a tablet. I was using my iPad to carry my scripted rundown and my iPhone to record, but I could have just as easily switched. I'm used to assembling the show by mixing my voice tracks, music, and podcast clips after they're all laid out. SO it was interesting to do the whole thing on the fly with BossJock.

There were a few rough patches as I was getting used to moving in and out of the clips, and I didn't have enough carts to give myself a music bed under the TweetSack. So I did a little tinkering in GarageBand afterward. But I really had fun with the practice of putting everything together - essentially - in one sitting, while literally sitting in my car.

Coming Up In This Episode

In addition to our Boozin’ With Bill adventure and a classic Henderson’s Pants commercial, we have a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian/commentator Will Durst, and clips from the following podcasts: Artist’s Alley, The Big Cat Show, The Kimchi Chronicles, Making Ends Meet, The Pauly Shore Podcast Show, Taco Tuesday, and Tangentially Speaking — not necessarily in that order.

Plus, of course, we dip into the Tweetsack at the end of the show.

The Clips

The Pauly Shore Podcast ShowThis past week, for Splitsider.com and Huffington Post Entertainment, I reviewed The Pauly Shore Podcast Show. You can go read the review in either place by clicking the links above, but here are the short strokes: Pauly Shore’s back and podcasting’s got him…again. In his 40’s now, Shore still scores with his “perma-slacker” voice and attitude, clearing needing the several members of his support team in the studio to get him from point A to point B. Even the point of editing seems to escape him at times, with Shore once needlessly recapping something that we just heard happen (which had apparently been a while back in real time.) Childhood friend and occasional acting rival David Arquette is his guest and their chat is very loose, hilariously wandering from topic to topic, including Arquette’s childhood, growing up with his acting siblings, life with Courtney Cox, life without Courtney Cox, and how things are now with a three-year relationship and an 8-month old son.

The Big Cat ShowWe recently featured a clip from The Big Cat Show with our old pal Lyonheart and I don’t like to repeat shows in quick succession, but Lyon does his show live on Thursday nights every week and he recently got a surprise caller. That’s pretty cool. Hannibal Burress just calling in. (Lyon, I think you could have parleyed that into a longer interview, though. Note to self: Don’t kick off an interview about talking smack about the star of the movie your guest is appearing in. Just a thought.) You can call into his show yourself every Thursday night at 7 PM East Coast time.

Artists AlleyOur associate producer Tyson Saner grabbed a clip from the Artists Alley podcast, hosted by Merill Barr. His guest in this slice from this past December is Troy Conrad, the brains behind the hilarious Set List show, which makes comedians invent material on the spot based on bizarre premises that he pops up on a screen on stage. Here he reveals an upcoming twist to the premise.

The Kimchi ChroniclesI got a note from friend of SuccotashNigel Boydell, who listeners may know from the Uncle Arthur’s Bollocks and HMS Codcast podcasts. He says: Hi Marc! I have included a short clip from my latest venture. I have been recording a podcast with my co-host, Samantha Pett. The Kimchi Chronicles is an intercontinental project. Sam is an English teacher in Ulsan, South Korea. We get together every couple of weeks to record a podcast over Skype. Because of the 9 hour time difference, Sam is usually recording in the early hours, and is usually fairly, how should I say, lubricated by the time the recording ends. Kimchi is a staple food in Korea, hence the title, and soju is a cheap alcholic drink, hence the lubrication. They sent along the sample we're featuring in this episode of the show.

Taco TuesdayWe recently featured a clip from Taco Tuesday with Podcast Dan and Adam Wolf and normally we’d wait a while before going back to the same well. But those guys are savvy enough to try out our new Hightail link for uploading clips directly to our show, so as a reward, we have another taste of Taco Tuesday.

Comedy Podcasters: If you'd like to upload a 3-5 minute MP3 clip directly to us, just use this link: http://www.hightail.com/u/Succotash.

Making Ends MeetTyson has clipped us a sample of Making Ends Meet, a podcast where New Yorkers Max Ash andTovah Silbermann talk to noobie comedians about their day jobs and how they can afford to be a comic in one of the most expensive cities in the country. In this samplage, the pair is talking with Sharron Paul.

All right, friends. That's what is in store for Epi103. Next time, Epi104 will be a Succotash Chats edition and our special guest will be Hal Lublin from The Thrilling Adventure Hour, back for his 3rd annual visit from when TAA was here at SF Sketchfest last weekend.

If you want to be our bestest friend, please take time out to Like us on Facebook, rate AND review us up on iTunes, heart us on SoundCloud, thumbs up us on Stitcher, buy our merch through the Succotashery, click our Donate button, and shop on Amazon by clicking on the banner at the top of the page on our homesite, http://SuccotashShow.com.

And thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:07:23yespodcast,big,show,comedy,speaking,cat,artists,marc,making,bill,tuesday,meet,chronicles,will,pants,alley,shore,clips,ends,taco,durst,hendersons,pauly,kimchi,succotash,hershon,heywatt,tweetsack,tangentiallySuccotash Epi102: Bein' Real with Brian FlahertyTue, 27 Jan 2015 14:11:38 +0000This is Epi102 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. Also known as the first episode of Succotash Chats.

Chats. No clips. Well, not clips per se.

We do have a couple of our Burst O’ Durst segments with comedian/commentator Will Durst. And an ad for Henderson’s Space Pants. And the Tweetsack. But NO comedy podcast clips. If you're sniffin' around for clips, please be sure to check out our previous Epi101, which was our first Succotash Clips show. All clips. No chats. And the NEXT episode, #103, will be all clips again.

I also invite you to check out our past episodes via our homepage, at http://SuccotashShow.com. We’ve had some great interviews in our past 100 episodes. And while you’re there, feel free to click on our Donate button, shop at our Succotashery, or use the Amazon banner at the top of the page to do your shopping on Amazon.com and they’ll throw us a few bones!

In the chat circle this week, our special guest is Brian Flaherty, the host of the New Hollywood podcast. I’ve been enjoying his podcast which focuses – mostly – on people connected to movies in the 1970’s, although he’s begun to push out from those parameters a little bit. A couple of episodes ago he had filmmaker Adam McKay as his guest and did a special “pre” episode with McKay playing a character named Alan Marlowe, a 70’s sleazy movie producer.

Brian and I talk about how that came about, how he got into podcasting and what he does around Hollywood as a part-time actor when he’s not part-time acting.

That’s it for our very first Succotash Chats episode. Next time we’ll be back with Succotash Clips, along with a new Boozin’ With Bill segment, a Burst O’ Durst, and who knows what else.

I’ve got a favor to ask, and it won’t cost you a cent. Just jump up on iTunes and search for Succotash – this podcast – and give us a nice rating and a quick review. It will help increase our visibility, you’ll be immortalized on the review page, plus I’ll be your bestest friend.

Alright, chum, thanks for listening and be sure to pass the Succotash!

As previously announced, my plan for Season 2 is to split our usual Succotash offerings – Clips and Chats – into separate shows. And that’s what you have here in the first show of Season 2. Succotash Clips.

All clips.

No interviews.

My goal is to have these shows come in at about or under an hour. And they should be a little easier to produce as well. Our Associate Producer, Tyson Saner, grabbed up a bunch of comedy podcasts clips. I’ve pulled a few. And so let me give you the rundown of the podcasts we’re sampling this time out: 80’s Reboot Overdrive, Comedy On Vinyl, Getting On, Hello Internet, The Kundalini Files, That Would Be Me and The Big Cat Show.

In addition, we’ve got not one but TWO of our Burst O’ Durst segments this show, a classic Henderson’s Pants commercial, and the Tweetsack.

IN REVIEW

Now that the holiday break is over, I’m back posting podcast reviews. This past week, for This Week In Comedy Podcasts on Splitsider.com and Huffington Post Entertainment, I took a listen to a couple of very funny episodes of The New Hollywood Podcast with Brian Flaherty. On Monday he had a short 15 minute installment with schlocky 70’s film producer Alan Marlowe, followed on Wednesday featuring an interview with Alan McKay, Will Ferrell’s comedic partner in crime.

The joke is that Marlowe is a character that McKay started riffing during his interview with Brian, so they went with it and made it a self-contained bit, which Brian then posted as a special episode. Check that out if you can – just follow the links above. (By the way, I also mentioned the Casa Mirth podcast with Dr. Norman Trousers and River Zambezi, and I also pinged the OnBrand podcast, which isn’t a comedy podcast but it’s about branding, which is my main day job, and host Nick Westergaard had my friend Pat Hanlon on as a guest so there.)

Oh, and if you didn’t get a chance to catch the Casa Mirth Christmas Spectacular, you should, if only to hear my stirring introduction.

THE JOB INTERVIEW

Maybe it's because I just started a new job at the beginning of the year, but I found the video sketch The Job Interview, by our friend John Dredge (host of The John Dredge Nothing To Do With Anything Show podcast) to be pretty clever.

THE CLIPS

Getting On with James UrbaniakIf you’re a podcast aficionado, chances are that you’ve heard James Urbaniak appearing as a guest on any number of shows out there, including The Thrilling Adventure Hour and Comedy Bang Bang. He’s a very talented vocal artist as well as and actor and a comedian. And he’s had his own podcast for a while. He doesn’t release them regularly – in fact, since 2012, there seem to only be about 21 episodes out there. Each one features him “navigating the darkly comedic recesses of his troubled yet charming mind,” according to his homesite.

80’s Reboot OverdriveOur Associate Producer Tyson Saner stumbled headfirst into something called the Southgate Media Group. It’s a network of podcasts that got going about a year and a half ago, the brainchild of Rob and Martha Southgate. Almost every show on their lineup – and I counted 24 of them – is dedicated to a TV show. There’s also a show about video games and one potpourri crazy roundup of a show called 80’s Reboot Overdrive. That’s where this clip comes from, and it features host Dave talking to Southgate Media’s heads Rob and Martha Southgate, along with their 7-year-old daughter Molly, who co-hosts THREE of the podcasts with her parents.

The Big Cat ShowWe haven’t heard from our old pal Lyonheart for a really long time. He had an internet radio show a couple of years ago, then he shut it down and headed out West for a bit, landing in San Jose to take care of some family stuff. But the West Coast didn’t suit him and he went back East once again, to New York this time with his buddy Matt.

Hello InternetTyson tossed us a clip this week from Hello Internet, a show I’m not familiar with. It features hosts CGP Grey and Brady Haran. I’m not sure what’s up with the three initials – the CGP Grey thing – but according to their homesite, the two guys kick around YouTube, life, work, and whatever. Grey’s got several videos on YuTube under the title “Grey Explains” and there’s one on the Lord of The Rings, robots, and other interesting subjects.

The Kundalini Files ReduxFriends-of-SuccotashDavian Dent and Jason McNamara (also known as Jabs from The Dhead Factor podcast), had done a 6-part detective spoof podcast called The Kundalini Files a couple of years ago. Davian has re-cut and re-mastered those shows and put them altogether into something he calls a feature-length show he calls The Kundalini Files Redux.

Comedy On VinylI’m going to assume that, if you’re a listener to Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, that you’re a fan of both comedy and podcasts. That combo probably can’t get much better than on a show called Comedy On Vinyl. Normally the comedy nerds on the show, headed up by host Jason Klamm, talk about the greatest comedy vinyl albums of all time. Our associate producer Tyson Saner found an intriguing break from that format with their epi119, featuring guest Jimmy Pardo, host of the Never Not Funny podcast, who brought the chat around to the effect that Richard Lewis’ 1985 TV special “I’m In Pain” had on him.

That Would Be MeAuthor Geoff Hoff does a lot of self-help books on writing and other topics, including an e-course on how to start your own podcast. He recently started doing a humor podcast himself, called That Would Be Me. Refreshingly, these are pretty short installments, and the subjects are presented in an observational style, which is a nice break from the glut of pop culture casts that seem to be propagating faster than ever.

That's the lineup and the skinny for the first show of Succotash, Season 2. Drop me a line at marc@SuccotashShow.com and let me know what you thought of our first Succotash Clips show. Next we’ll have a Succotash Chats edition, so you can compare the two flavors of Succotash.

One way you can help us out as we move into Season 2 is to get up to iTunes so you can rate and review us. You’d be amazed what a couple of sentences and 5 stars can do for our rankings. Neither of which costs you a dime. To help us out in a more material way, there’s the Donate button up at http://SuccotashShow.com and we also have t-shirts, mugs and other merch with our brand new Succotash logo up now at the Succotashery.

First off, I'm kicking off this Epi100 show blog by revealing the all new Succotash logo for Season 2! Designed by Page Branson, co-host of the Level 7 Access podcast, this spiffy new look will soon be available in the Succotashery on shirts n' stuff.

Okay. So, my ORIGINAL plan was to do the first live Succotash show for Epi100 but the occasion was dovetailing with my wife and I making a move to a new place AND me making a move to a new job.

I was also afraid that the thing would turn out to be not quite so tremendous an extravaganza as I was picturing in my mind.

Instead, I planned a trip back to Studio P to visit with our Engineer/Producer Joe Paulino. We have a nice discussion in studio about where the show has been and where it's going, as well as a mini-state of the podcast form as it exists today. As we also discuss, Succotash has gone beyond having to rely on Joe to cobble together our nonsense but he is still my rock and my inspiration. Plus he puts together great stuff for our show all the time.

Coming up in this Epi100, our final show of Succotash, The Comedy Podcast Podcast, Season 1, we FINALLY have a new Boozin’ with Bill segment, wherein our booth announcer Bill Heywatt teaches me (and you) how to whip up a special concoction in honor of our centennial ‘sode of Succotash. Embarrassingly, it called “Up The Hershon Highway”. I include the formula here.

Our sponsor Henderson’s Pants has created a new pantaloon specifically in honor of our 100th episode.

We also have a double dose of political comedian Will Durst with our Burst O’ Durst. (If you're in or near the San Francisco Bay Area this holiday season, be sure to catch Durst and his cadre of comics who are appearing in the Big Fat Year End Kiss Off Comedy Show XXII December 26 - January 3, 2015.

Cast of the Big Fat Year End Kiss Off Comedy Show

Oh, and we dip into the Tweetsack this episode as well. We got a pile of congratulatory messages – thanks so much to those of you who took time out to send those along, either called into the Succotash Hotline or sent in to us. We play those throughout the show, including a really nice message from our own Associate Producer Tyson Saner, whose become a vital component to make this show happen. (Special thanks to Dana Carvey, who supplied the messages from Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Paul McCartney, and Michael Caine!)

We’ve got some clips, as per usual - none of which have anything to do with our 100th episode milestone.

CLIPS

Chillpak Hollywood HourOur friends in podcasting – Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness – of the Chillpak Hollywood Hour, have been doing a series of pre-recorded shows and, as usual when that happens, there are not a lot of Succotash mentions for us to replay. This week, they sent along a very special Happy 100 episode message! (By the way, their show last week with guest Suli McCullough last week was dynamite! It touched on race and racism, both in and out of the Hollywood business, as well as growing up in Silicon Valley, and was also hilarious at times.)

Screams & MoansFriend-of-Succotash Megan M recently made her first year as a podcaster with Epi26 of her own Screams & Moans podcast. Also known as @PodcastWhore on Twitter, she's been a big supporter of Succotash. And we’re glad to see her interest in the medium has turned into an avocation. Congrats, Megan! We feature a clip of her awarding the First Place Award to her Most Drunken Listener.

Urban Mamas PodcastOur Associate Producer Tyson found us this clip from the Urban Mamas podcast out of Portland, Oregon, where Ray Ann Peil and Kelli Martinelli say – via their website – that they are "out to change the world one swear jar at a time." Crammed into this clip are such topics as adoption, the aforementioned swear jars, and negotiating Halloween candy. Joining them as a guest is anotha mutha, Sabrina Williamson.

Wheelbarrow Full Of DicksWe got a 100th episode congrats message in the Tweetsack from Mike Moore and the gang – Nappier, Travis, and Drunk – over at Wheelbarrow Full of Dicks. It reads: “First off, congratulations on the milestone over there. 100 episodes is an impressive number. We appreciate all that you do." And they included a clip from a new segment on their show called "Romance Is Dead." It's basically a sit-com featuring a suburban dad in a post-apocalyptic world whose family who were all bitten and turned to zombies.

Taco TuesdayThanks to Podcast Dan and Adam Wolf for their congratulations message. They also included a taste of their Taco Tuesday podcast. These guys do a real combo platter of stuff: tech, music, and comedy. And it’s the only podcast I know of – so far – booming out of Killeen, Texas. In this clip from their Epi16 – it goes back a bit to Thanksgiving time – they’re talking whether to brine a turkey or not, and whether deviled eggs are better with Miracle Whip or mayo.

The Higher Learning ChannelSometimes the best way to lure in new listeners, as well as to make your show stand out from the crowd, is to give your podcast a high-falutin’ name. Seems to work for The Higher Learning Channel, out of New York City and hosted by Ginzilla and Matthew Sire. It’s just a cover for another pop culture-based podcast, one which features – according to their homesite – “Weirdos. Creatives. Podcasters.” In this clip from Epi14, their guest is comic book creator Pat Reilly and they get into the art of drawing dicks. Yeah, dicks. But classy, comic book dicks.

That’s it! The end of Succotash, Season One! 100 episodes, presented in order and in their entirety. (Plus a handful of mini "halfisodes"…) If you missed any, you should be able to dredge them up at our homesite, http://SuccotashShow.com.

Starting with Episode 101, we switch to our new split format, where shows will either be Succotash Clips or Succotash Chats. And with any luck at all, we’ll start getting them out on a regular basis. Thanks so much for being part of our first season. Hope you’ll stick around to see where we go next with the show.

And please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:13:51yespodcast,matt,dana,episode,dean,comedy,marc,phil,will,clips,tyson,100th,durst,saner,haglund,knudsen,carvey,chillpak,succotash,hershon,leirness,tweetsackSuccotash Epi99: Podfestin' with Todd Glass & Matt KnudsenMon, 24 Nov 2014 20:46:47 +0000You are, once again – unless this is your first time – listening to Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. (Or the Comedy Earfruit Earfruit. Ever since my chat with Superego's Matt Gourley, I’ve become obsessed with renaming the generic podcast with something. What do you think of earfruit?) This is Succotash Epi99! The penultimate episode of Season One. That’s right. Episode 100 will be the final show for our first season.

But that’s next time.

THIS time we have a helluva show for you with not one but TWO interviews that I did when I was at the 3rd Annual LA Podcast Festival at the end of September.You’ll hear my chat with Todd Glass of the Todd Glass Show and with Matt Knudsen from the Grabbing Lunch podcast. (Or earfruit.)

I’ll also be playing clips from both of their podcasts PLUS clips from Picking Favorites, a new podcast on the new Wolfpop Network, the Angry Old Man podcast, Denzel Washington is The Greatest Actor of All Time PERIOD, and Today We Learned teaches us all a little something about the dumbest laws in the United States.

We also have a DOUBLE dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian Will Durst, a classic Henderson’s Pants commercial, and a musical track from our Associate Producer Tyson Saner that is featured on Combat Radio’s First Christmas Album, which is a great way to help out friend-of-Succotash Ethan Dettenmeier’s Christmas Event for Homeless Children Benefit. You can find out order the album and find out more about the benefit by visiting OUR homesite, http://SuccotashShow.com, and click on the album cover on the right hand side.

Wish Us A Happy 100TH Episode!

If you’re a comedy podcaster or just a regular old listener, there’s still time to get us your “Happy 100th Episode Anniversary!” message for us to play on our one hundredth show. You can call one into the Succotash Hotline, at (818) 921-7212, or email us an MP3 or WAV file to marc@SuccotashShow.com. (Not to throw a challenge out there, but in this episode I'm playing a great 100th episode message in from the guys over at Illusionoid and I’ve got to say that I really appreciate the extra effort that went into it.

PodBay's Top 10 Comedy Podcasts

It’s been TWO months since Stitcher has updated their Top 100 Comedy Podcast List. Not sure what’s going on over there. (Heck, given the nature of technology, maybe my browser is screwed up.) But I’m not able to track podcasts through Stitcher’s site these days so rather than NOT do our Top 10 Most Active Shows On Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List, I hopped over to PodBay’s site to harvest their list of the most recent Top 10 Comedy Podcasts according to the live iTunes rankings. (PodBay, by the way, is a GREAT podcast app on iOS and Android, so be sure to check it out if you want a super duper podcast experience!)

1 With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus2 Psychobabble with Tyler Oakley3 Welcome to Nightvale4 WTF with Marc Maron5 The Joe Rogan Experieince6 The Nerdist7 The Adam Carolla Show8 How Did This Get Made?9 Bill Burr’s Monday Morning Podcast10 Not Too Deep With Grace Helbig

A Little Christmas Music

Our own Tyson Saner wrote and performed an instrumental tune that he did for the First Combat Radio Christmas Album to help raise money for Ethan Dettenmeier’s 4th Annual Combat Radio Christmas Event for Homeless Children. You can donate to the Combat Radio Christmas Event at http://www.gofundme.com/ACombatRadioChristmas and get the album for a suitable donation OR go to the right-hand side of our homesite, http://SuccotashShow.com, and click on the Combat Radio Christmas Album. Tyson’s cut is entitled For Christmas and feature in during this episode both under our Tweetsack mentions and then in its entirety at the end of the show.

The Clips

Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time PERIODLast week on Splitsider.com and HuffPost Comedy I reviewed this new podcast, one of Wolfpop’s new shows, hosted by recent Succotash special guest W. Kamau Bell and Kevin Avery, a soon-to-be guest on this show. Both of these guys spent a lot of their formative funny years as San Francisco comedians, then Kamau got his own show, Totally Biased, for a while on FX and FXX. Kevin was head writer on that show and, when it got cancelled, he found a place on the writing staff on John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight on HBO. The two of them decided to put together a podcast about one of their favorite people, Denzel Washington, to let everyone know what a terrific actor they think he is.

The Todd Glass ShowI was glad I got a chance to sit with Todd Glass at this year’s LA Podcast Festival. I know him a little bit from the LA comedy scene and he’s played in Northern California during the past couple of years and we got to hangout just before he started HIS podcast, the Todd Glass Show. Before I get to our chat, I wanted to play a little piece of a recent epi of his show, one featuring guest Patton Oswalt.

Picking FavoritesIf you were a fan of NBC’s series Chuck, about a nerdy big box store employee who get a computer stuffed into his noggin, you know Zachary Levi, the star of the show. David Coleman was the propmaster on that show, kind of the Q of TV comedy spy show, if you will. Together, they started a business called The Nerd Machine and now they have this Wolfpop podcast, Picking Favorites, started with the help of a comedian who goes by the name Razzle Dangerously, who also host a show on the Nerdist network called Today We Learned, which we’ll be playing a clip from momentarily. Then they drafted Tyler Labine, a hilarious actor from shows like Reaper, The Sons of Tucson, and the movie Tucker & Dale vs Evil. Picking Favorites starts with three topics each episode and the hosts and guests go round-robin style, naming off their favorites of whatever the topic happens to be. In the second show, their guest was Adam Baldwin, another Chuck alumnus (and also one of the stars of Monster Makers, a movie I wrote for the Hallmark Channel.)

Today We LearnedAssociate Producer Tyson Saner grabbed the previous clip and this next clip, which comes from the Today We Learned podcast, featuring Razzle Dangerously (as heard in the Picking Favorites clip), and Dan Casey. This Nerdist show says that the hosts bring you “the latest and greatest and sometimes weirdest facts and trivia the world has to offer.” In this clip, from their Epi62, the hosts and their guest Jacob Soboroff talk about dumb laws in the United States.

Angry Old ManWe clipped The Angry Old Man podcast quite a while ago – Episode 53, I think – so it’s high time we hit him again. All I know about the ringmaster for this podcast is that he goes by the name Robert Q, and that he does all the voices on this thing. Tyson grabbed the cold opening from Angry Old Man Epi 90 so have a listen…

Grabbing LunchI was first introduced to Matt Knudsen, host of the Grabbing Lunch podcast, at the most recent LA Podcast Festival when Christine Blackburn (of the Story Worthy podcast) dragged him into the Podcast Lab and told me, “You have GOT to interview Matt!” I really enjoyed our chat and I love the premise for his podcast. Simple. Filling. Grab two people who listeners may or may not have heard of before, sit ‘em down to lunch and turn the mics on. This clip is from his Epi52 – at one episode a week, that’s his one year anniversary. And his guests were actress Helen Slater from things like Supergirl and City Slickers, and her husband Rob Watzke, a Hollywood editor and improviser.

Join us next time for Epi100, the last show of Season 1! Until next time, thanks for passing the Succotash!

– Marc Hershon

]]>01:49:07yespodcast,old,radio,kevin,matt,combat,comedy,podcasts,tyler,w,marc,washington,man,bell,todd,zachary,levi,pants,glass,kamau,clips,tyson,avery,denzel,angry,saner,hendersons,labine,knudsen,succotash,hershon,tweetsack,ethen,dettenmeierSuccotash Epi98: Mixin' It Up with Matt GourleyMon, 10 Nov 2014 08:21:47 +0000Oh, hey – it’s your old pal Marc Hershon. Unless this is your first time listening to Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, in which case it’s your new pal Marc Hershon. Either way, this is Epi98. Just TWO episodes away from our Epi100 and the end of Succotash Season 1.

In regards to that, we’ve been tweeting requests for podcasters and listeners to call in "Happy Episode 100!" messages to the Succotash Hotline – (818) 921-7212 – and so far we’ve got nothing.

I was planning to do a big live episode for number 100 but with such an underwhelming response to the show’s Season 1 finale, I think we’re going to go back into Studio P with our engineer/producer Joe Paulino, announcer Bill Heywatt, booth announcer Kenny Durgis, and just do a slam-bang highly produced extravaganza. (Unlike this week’s episode, which was recorded in Studio F - my Fiat - while parked in my driveway in the middle of the night.)

Incidentally, this episode is NOT brought to you by SquareSpace, Nature Box, Cards Against Humanity, Dollar Shave Club or any other legitimate paying advertisers but we are sponsored by Henderson’s Pants and YOUR kind donations, merch purch, and/or clickthroughs on our Amazon.com banner at the top of our http://SuccotashShow.com homesite.

We’ve got a big old sweaty handful of clips from comedy podcasts around the interwebs, many of which were harvested by our Associate Producer Tyson Saner. Also on tap this episode is not one but TWO of our Burst O’ Durst segments with political and social comedian/commentator Will Durst, a fresh Henderson’s Pants commercial and the Tweetsack is back! (I pushed it off last episode because we were running so long but we’ll be mentioning a few notes we’ve gotten this time around as well as a bunch of kind folks who have been passing the Succotash via social media.)

What we also have in store for you in THIS very show, this Epi98, is an interview I recorded over Skype a few days ago with Matt Gourley, who many of you may know as ¼ of the Superego podcast. He also co-hosts the James Bonding podcast with Matt Myra. But his main reason for dropping by, virtually speaking, was to talk about his newest podcast AND the new network that it’s helping to launch.

Just this past week, the Wolf Pop podcast network started. It’s a spinoff of sorts from the Earwolf Network, home of many fine comedy podcasts such as Comedy Bang Bang, Affirmation Nation with Bob Ducca, Nerd Poker and many others. Wolf Pop is going to feature more shows with a pop culture bent, under the stewardship of the very funny Paul Scheer, whom you may know from the How Did This Get Made? podcast, his appearance on TV’s The League and many other endeavors. Matt’s new show is called I Was There Too, and features Matt interviewing different guests each episode, guests who were connected to a famous scene or moment in a movie but just as a bit part player or an extra on the film.

For instance, his guest on the first show, which dropped this week, is Paul F. Tompkins, who was in There Will Be Blood and was in a scene with Daniel Day Lewis. We feature a clip from that premiere episode on this show, along with my chat with Matt. (I also review I Was There Too this week for This Week In Comedy Podcasts on Splitsider.com and for Huffington Post Comedy as well.)

Coming Soon: Season 2!

If you missed me talking about what Season Two of Succotash has in store, I’m going to be splitting the show into two different flavors which will both be available in the regular show feed. We will have clips-only episodes under the subtitle of Succotash Clips and then we’ll have interview shows subtitled Succotash Chats. And, occasionally, we might still mix those offerings for a serving of Succotash Clips n’ Chats.

No More 10 Most Active Shows In Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List?

It seems that Stitcher has been updating some hooha in the jezzleneck because of a defective framus and their numbers have been all kablooie since the middle of September. Now I was planning on maybe scapping this feature anyway after Epi100 so maybe we’ll just let it quietly crawl off and die in the bushes.

The Clips

TomefooleryTwice a month, comedian Cody Melcher invites a couple of funny friends on his Tomefoolery podcast to talk about a really, really weird book they've all just read. Comedianne Stephanie Hasz co-hosts this epi and guests include Chris Geiger, Mary Beth Smith and Claire Friedman from "The Nerdologues", a CHicago sketch group. The book for this episode is called A Christian Response to Dungeons and Dragons, written by Peter Leithart and George Grant in 1987. (Our Associate Producer Tyson mentioned that, “This is not something I knew existed and I'm almost sure that my Dad would have mentioned it as he came from a religious background and is NOT a 'Satan Worshipper'.” This clip is of the folks re-enacting a famous "Chick Tract" called "Dark Dungeon" that is anti-Dungeons and Dragons. That "Chick Tract" has since been made into a film that was funded by Kickstarter. They want $5 bucks for the film online, which looks like it cost 5 bucks to make. Here's the trailer for it if you want to spend YOUR money on it…

Transformers 1986As if to test the modern axiom, “There’s a podcast for everything”, Podcast Squared’s Andrew Johnstone has unveiled the Transformers 1986 podcast. To bring his audio vision to life, he’s assembled a roundtable of podcasting podcasters — Jason “The Angry Ginger” (7 Days A Geek), Ben Tippett (Titanium Physicists), and Jim Chipley (Bizz and Chips), along with comedian Joe Starr. The first epsiode uses the nerd minds of the panel to deconstruct the first 20 minutes of this animated “classic” motion picture. So far there is only the first episode of Transformers 1986 so there’s plenty of time to jump aboard!

Pizza Beer RevolutionThis is a segment-driven chatter show featuring Mike Pullano (host of the New York Rangers’ Blue Shirt Buds), Chris Ippolito (lead singer of Chapter Five) and ex-pro snowboarder Joe Maffei that appears on YouTube as a multi-screen videocast as well as an audio podcast. Their guest this segment – they frequently have interesting guests popping in – is Samantha Quintas of SModcast’s The Sam And Ming Show. And they’re talking – more or less on topic – about their favorite TV theme songs.

Hillbilly Nerd TalkHosted by Hank and Petra – no last names – who describe themselves as “educated hillbillies”, the Hillbilly Nerd Talk podcast hails from “deep in the hollows of rural Appalachia”. This is an amazing find from Tyson and features a charming married couple who chew the fat on a variety of subjects. This sample features them tossing around a list of the perils of Facebook from Men’s Health magazine.

Done and done. That’s Epi98 in a podshell. It’s not too late to record a special message for the Succotash Episode 100 – you can do it by calling into the Succotash Hotline at (818) 921-7212 or by sending us an MP3 or WAV file to marc@SuccotashShow.com. We continue to appreciate getting your reviews and rating on iTunes, your Thumbs Up on Stitcher, and your donations by clicking the Donate button at http://SuccotashShow.com.

Until next time, thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:19:11nopodcast,james,matt,comedy,beer,revolution,pizza,marc,gourley,bonding,earwolf,superego,succotash,hershon,tomefoolery,wolfpopSuccotash Epi97: Podfestin' with Friends #1Wed, 22 Oct 2014 00:40:05 +0000At long last, here is Epi97 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. I put this installment together while on vacation in Hawaii — not the first time we've come to you from Paradise — but, just as usual these days, I did my recording from Studio F (in this case, a rented Fiat 500C), so the sound quality of my wraparound portions will sound remarkably the same as always.

Went a little bit different with the show this time out. This episode we’ve got not just some comedy podcast clips for you but also a few of the interviews that I did recently at the 3rd Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival (which was about a month ago now…)

Among the many folks I got a chance to talk to while I was in the SquareSpace Podcast Lab and whose interviews I share this episode include…

Janet Varney from the JV Club podcast. Yes, I FINALLY got my old friend Janet to sit down and chat for a bit. I’ve known her since before she got out of college, when she and her fellow sketch performers (Cole Stratton, David Owen, and Gabriel Diani) were in a group called Totally False People and used to open for my improv group The Riffingtons in the San Francisco Bay Area. Needless to say, she and her compatriots have FAR outstripped my show business career on many fronts and I love it. She’s great and her podcast The JV Club is going great guns.

Christine Blackburn from the Story Worthy podcast. Christine’s always fun to talk to, plus she kept finding new people for me to interview while I was at the podcast festival, which was great – I made some new podcaster friends and found out about some great show I’d never heard of before which we’ll be featuring on future episodes of Succotash. We also talked about working together to try and get Story Worthy on the boards, live, somewhere in the Bay Area soon.

Matt Weinhold, co-host of the Monster Party podcast. Always great hanging out with Matt whenever I’m in LA and I was especially happy to have been asked to jump into the Monster Party with him and the guys. Before that happened, though, he dropped by the podfest after work so we chatted it up, then we wandered around poking our heads into the shows going on, then we gorged ourselves on late night eats at Jerry's Deli in the Valley.

In addition to the interviews, we play clips from all three of their shows, not to mention a trio of other podcasts, which were harvested by our ace Associate Producer Tyson Saner.

N0 TWEETSACK OR 10 MOST ACTIVE SEGMENTS THIS WEEK

Because I knew this was going to be a long show, there's no Tweetsack segment this week. And the Top 10 Most Active Shows in Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcasts List is on hold because Stitcher apparently hasn't updated their stats on that list in the past month. Who do they think they are? Succotash? Of all the nerve.

Nonetheless, we do have our Burst O' Durst at the end of the show, featuring political comedian and cultural commentator Will Durst, this time talking about the spooky upcoming midterm elections.

CLIPS

Chillpak Hollywood HourA way longer-than-usual visit with Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness, plucked from their somewaht recent "partycast" in Los Angeles, where they took time out to interview…me.

The New HollywoodTyson sent along a clip from a podcast I hadn’t heard before this show: The New Hollywood. I’m not sure this qualifies as a comedy podcast – the show’s homesite describes the show as “a podcast interview show about the greatest films from the 70's – by the people who made them.” - but there are sure some great funny stories in some of the episodes. This clip is from a few weeks ago when actor Stacy Keach and host Brian Flaherty discussed Keach’s career, and when he and a partner wrote what could have been a war epic for producer Roger Corman.

The JV ClubHost Janet Varney kicked this podcast off over 130 episodes ago, mostly talking talking one-on-one with female guest from the arts (although her "Boys of Summer" shows allow her to stretch the format a bit.) This clip features her guest, actress Noureen DeWolfe, whom she appeared with in the popular web/TV series reality show spoof Burning Love.

Bad ReceptionWe have a clip from a podcast that’s just getting started, called Bad Reception, with host Jordan Scherer. It’s only a few episodes in, and the show’s homesite says that Jordan talks to himself and guests about life, pop culture, and comedy. In the clip Tyson pulled, the host is talking his listeners about why they should give podcasting a try themselves.

Story WorthyFeaturing hosts Christine Blackburn and Hannes Phinney. In this clip from the recent "Trouble In My Pants" episode of Story Worthy, we share part of a story that starts out favorably but seems to very quickly head south in a story related by storytelling guest Iris Bahr.

Happy Sad ConfusedOur associate producer Tyson tossed us an episode from Happy Sad Confused with host Josh Horowitz. He talks to celebrities about "everything and anything", according to the show's homesite. I don’t know about that but he recently chatted up Justin Long about working with Kevin Smith, who directed him in the oddball film Tusk.

Monster PartyWe've featured clips from Monster Party before, with co-hosts James Gonis, Shawn Sheridan, Larry Strothe, Matt Weinhold, and a different guest each episode. This particular episode, MAd Doctors, which dropped this week, features ME! It's funny in spite of that fact…

Just a closing note to let you know that I appreciate all of you who have been mentioning the show on Twitter and Facebook and especially everyone who has taken the time to rate and review us on iTunes and "Thumbs Upping" us on Stitcher Smart Radio.

And a reminder that, if you’re shopping on Amazon.com, visit us first at http://SuccotashShow.com and click on the Amazon banner at the top of the page. That will take you to the Amazon site and anything that you buy, they’ll send us a tiny cut of it.

If you want to help us offset the costs of production, you can also click on our Donate button at the Succotash site or you can even buy some merch in our Succotashery. So many ways to help pass the Succotash and so little time, really.

]]>01:32:41yesmonster,matt,club,dean,comedy,party,podcasts,story,hollywood,marc,phil,will,janet,pants,christine,durst,blackburn,weinhold,hendersons,haglund,worthy,varney,jv,chillpak,succotash,hershon,leirnessSuccotash Epi96: Documentin' with Robert Campos & Donna LoCiceroThu, 02 Oct 2014 06:53:17 +0000I'm your host Marc Hershon and this IS Epi 96 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. (If you missed it, there WAS an Epi 95.5 which I did from the road when I headed down to the 3rd Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival - check out the blog entry just beneath this one!)

I was hoping to record this episode as I was sitting in the Squarespace Podcast Lab, surrounded by podcasters interviewing other podcasters. But the time got away from me – it seems there was always someone else to interview or to be interviewed by for THEIR show. I will be featuring my own interviews with other podcasters over the next bunch of shows but not on THIS episode.

This episode features my interview with Robert Campos and Donna LoCIcero, the movie makers behind 3 Still Standing, a documentary that looks at the San Francisco comedy scene back to the 1980s through the lives and careers of a trio of local comedians: Will Durst, Johnny Steele, and Larry “Bubbles” Brown.

I found one of the interesting things about Robert and Donna is that they’re not from a comedy background but are real, bona fide documentarians who have done hours of material for television. You'll hear about their fascinating background and how they cooked up the idea for the project. This is their first feature-length film and they’re coming at it as fans of comedy. I think you’ll enjoy our chat…

I made the drive to Los Angeles from San Francisco in time to catch the Chillpak Hollywood Hour live "partycast" from the Bottle Rock bar in downtown LA. I was a lively time but I haven't had a chance to snip a bit of that show for you yet. But thanks to hosts Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness for putting on the dog.

The 10 Most Active Shows On Sticher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

As mentioned before, this feature may be cut in the near future in order to save us time on the podcast UNLESS there are some vocal or social advocates who want to stand up for it. Where else can you get a run down of the ten shows that have moved up or down the list in the past week?Call the Succotash Hotline at (818) 921-7212 or email me at marc@SuccotashShow.com if you'd like to show your support for this segment.

Mike And Tom Eat SnacksIt’s been about a year but, at long last, Mike And Tom Eat Snacks, aka MATES, is back! Everyone, including themselves, thought that hosts Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanaugh, were dead. But they’re not. They’re alive and snacking. And they celebrated their returns with a snack as old as snacks themselves…the humble hard boiled egg.

We Have ConcernsI dropped a mention of the podcast We Have Concerns a couple of months ago in the This Week In Comedy Podcasts column on Splitsider.com. But we hadn’t yet played a clip. JeffCannata and Anthony Carboni have a lot of fun delving in the wonder and dread hidden inside seemingly innocuous things. F’rinstance, this clip is from their recent episode Algorithm is a Dancer.

Dom Irrera LIVE from the Laugh FactoryI can’t believe that comedian Dom Irrera is almost 100 epis into his podcast, Dom Irrera LIVE from the Laugh Factory, and we’ve never featured a clip from his show before. Thanks to Tyson Saner, our Associate Producer, we are now. He does his show, interviewing comedians and talking about Hollywood, right from Hollywood’s Laugh Factory comedy store. Our clip is from a recent episode where Dom is talking to comedian John Heffron.

Stick a fork in Epi96 because it’s done! We had clips. We had chat. We had pants.

Coming up next episode will be more clips and one or two of the miniviews I had with some of the podcasters at the 3rd Annual LA Podfest.

If you’d like to get in touch with me, shoot me an email at maarc@SuccotashShow.com. Or listen for the number for the Succotash Hotline when our friendly booth announcer Bill Heywatt says goodbye in a moment.

You can find us on iTunes, Stitcher, CWERadio.com – that’s Clutch And Wiggle Entertainment Radio, where we replay all the time – and sometimes SoundCloud – been having some upload woes there – and please Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter and, as always, thanks for passing the Succotash!

]]>01:26:28yes3,standing,marc,still,robert,donna,campos,succotash,hershon,lociceroSuccotash Epi95.5: Travelin' to the 3rd LA PodfestFri, 26 Sep 2014 19:06:47 +0000Time for another Succotash "halfisode", one of those short, off-the-cuff, podcast installments that I spew into my digital recorder while plying the "Kessel Run". (That's my nickname for the 5+ hour jaunt on Interstate 5 between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The occasion is the 3rd Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival, taking place this Friday through Sunday, Sept. 26-28. Haven't missed one yet. I'm writing this accompanying blog on Friday morning, after successfully navigating my way to Big Smoggy.

This kept me going on the six hour drive yesterday…

I took a half-day off of work so that I could make the drive in plenty of time to not only make the Podfest but also to drop in on the Chillpak Hollywood Hour "partycast" that was going on at the Bottle Rock in downtown LA last night. Which I did, as evidenced by my photo of hosts Phil Leirness and Dean Hagland that appears below.

During this particular halfisode, I finally give out with some details on the upcoming format changes in store for future episodes of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. My idea - in an attempt to move to a more easily consumable format - is to split the show up a bit. By that, I mean that each episode will be either primarily comedy podcast clips or an interview. And you'll be able to tell which is which by the title, because the former will be under the banner of Succotash Clips, while the latter will be called Succotash Chats.

Make sense?

The reasons for making this move in "Season 2" of the show - these changes will transpire beginning with Epi101 - are several. One is that episodes are getting very long. Lately our shows have been coming in at between 90 and 120 minutes. So they're getting increasingly more difficult to produce and taking more and more time. Another reason is that I's like to make a bit more of a consistent product, by aiming for 30 minute shows for the Clips editions, and no more than an hour for the Chats versions.

Phil & Dean of the Chillpak Hollywood Hour

As I mention in this epi, no one ever says much about the show's format as it is but, if you either support or object to the planned changes, feel free to reach out and let me know. You can call the Succotash Hotline, at (818) 921-7212. Or email me at marc@SuccotashShow.com. Or just tweet your comments to @SuccotashShow.

Also during this episode, we had a surprise guest drop in via cell phone! Out of the blue, friend of the show Rick Overton, brilliant comedian and the host of podcasting's Overview, happened to call while I was recording. So I just left the call in.

BTW, the quality of the show is a bit sketchy. Recording in Studio F while it's moving is always a little difficult. I filtered a lot of the road noise out but it's still a less-than-optimum production. Still, it's only about 20 minutes long, so you can certainly muddle through that much. I did.

If you're going to be the LA Podfest this weekend, you can track me down in the Podcast Lab or you can also message or call me through the Succotash Hotline number (see above) - I'll have it on live this weekend rather than voicemail.

Thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>20:31nopodcast,dean,marc,phil,clips,rick,haglund,overton,chillpak,comed,succotash,hershon,leirness,halfisodeSuccotash Epi95: Interfacin' with The Amazing JohnathanSun, 21 Sep 2014 16:33:41 +0000Just four more shows after this one and we hit Epi100, the last show of the first season of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast.

Seasons in podcasting seem a little silly to me, so I figured after almost 3 years and 100 ‘sodes, we’ll make THAT the end of season one. (I’m still trying to figure out if I have it together enough to do a live show somewhere for the 100th episode. Don’t know. We’ll see…

I’ve also been talking with our Associate Producer Tyson Saner– or messaging him, more precisely, about a couple of format changes that Succotash is in for in the second season of the show. I’ll tell you more about that soon. Nothing major in terms of what you hear, just going to tighten up the struts on this rust heap a little bit and see if we can’t keep it flying a little longer.

We only have a few comedy podcast clips to share with you this episode because the main attraction is my interview with comic–magician The Amazing Johnathan. He recently announced his retirement from performing live on stage and we find out during the interview.

I had heard Johnathan on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast – a great interview, by the way. If you didn’t hear it, think about tracking it down over at WTFpod.com. But because I’ve known Johnathan for years, I figured it might be neat to get him on here to chat and we’d no doubt find some other things to talk about. Which we did…

He's had an interesting career, starting out trying to do stage magic in Michigan, then street magic in San Francisco, before finding his unique "punk magician" spin on an act that has always been more about the laughs than the magic. Johnathan talks about those early days on the street - competing for sidewalk space with the likes of Harry Anderson and A. Whitney Brown. We also find out how a bet he made with a friend ended up keeping off Late Night with David Letterman for years after he made his debut.

And once upon a time I was the head writer on a short-lived game show called Ruckus for Merv Griffin. Johnathan was the host and we talk about some of that craziness, too.

We talk at length about Ruckus, actually and one of the things we bring up - in fact, something I did in this particular segment Johnathan uses to kick off and close our chat - was a gag called The Ultimate Blindfold. I came on stage as a"stooge", pretending to be a member of the theater audience, which was where we pulled our contestants from for each episode. That bit lives in perpetuity on YouTube, so I figured I'd slug it in the blog here…

The 10 Most Active Shows on Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

Nowhere else in Podcastland are you likely to hear a list featuring the 10 most active shows on any list. But we have it for you here! These are the shows that moved up OR down the most in the past week on Stitcher’s Top 100 Comedy Podcast List. (Some weeks we get big, massive swings in the numbers. Some weeks, not so much. Mostly single digit moves this week with a couple of exceptions.)

As much as I kind of get a kick out of this feature, we may need to trim some fat if we move to a shorter show in a few episodes so this could be on the chopping block. Do YOU like the 10 Most Active? Enough to keep it in the show? Call into the Succotash Hotline – (818) 921-7212 – and let me know.

Other Stuff In This Episode

We have a fresh Burst O' Durst with our resident crankpot, comedian and social commentator Will Durst, who's talking about the new iPhone 6. This episode is sponsored by Henderson's Peer Sucker Pants. And we've got a few things to talk about in the Tweetsack.

Clips

Greg Proops’ Film ClubThis past week I reviewed Greg Proops’ OTHER podcast for the This Week In Comedy Podcastscolumn on Splitsider.com, then I shaved it off and put it up on Huffington Post, just for good measure. So I’m not talking about his The Smartest Man In The World podcast. This is his Greg Proops Film Club. It’s a once-a-month movie screening of something that Greg likes – and the most recent one film was The Man Who Would Be King, starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine at their most dashing but, in the segment we’re about to listen to, Proops goes off on a tangent about spending teenage nights at the local drive-in movie theater.

P.F.’s Tape RecorderWe recently got hit up to revisit the P.F.’s Tape Recorder podcast, hosted by P.F. Wilson and to check out a recent episode featuring the Sklar Brothers – very funny comedians and hosts of the Sklarboro Country and Sklarboro County podcasts. P.F. wanted us to pay particularly close attention to his It’s Facebook NOT Factbook part of that epi, so that's what we do.

The Geek GenerationI saw on the Independent Podcaster Association page on Facebook that The Geek Generation podcast hit its 200th episode. Congrats to host Rob Logan and his co-host Mike Volpe. These guys love talking about movies, TV shows, video games…pretty much anything their audience enjoys geeking out over. Our snippet is from their big Epi 200 where they get into…Oreos.

Hitting The Road

I'll be on the road later this week, heading to Los Angeles and the 3rd Annual Los Angeles Podcast Festival. (This year, BTW, for the first time they're offering a "virtual ticket" to the PodFest - for $25, you get to watch their "livestream" of the entire event online.)

I'll kick off my Southland visit by dropping into the big "partycast" being thrown by Chillpak Hollywood Hour hosts Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness Thursday night. So I may toss a Succotash "halfisode" up online between now and Epi96.

Thanks for passing the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:25:13yespodcast,film,club,dean,comedy,geek,magic,greg,hollywood,marc,hour,phil,ruckus,amazing,clips,snippets,tyson,tape,proops,recorder,saner,johnathan,haglund,chillpak,succotash,hershon,leirness,pfs,gneerationSuccotash Epi94: Rememberin' RobinMon, 15 Sep 2014 06:50:31 +0000Welcome to Epi94 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. This is the podcast where we feature clips of other comedy podcasts to help you to try and sort through the, literally, thousands of comedy podcasts you could be listening to when you fancy a comedy podcast or two.

Since I’m always skimming the podwaves, listening to what’s out there (I also review podcasts as part of This Week in Comedy Podcasts for Splitsider.com and on the Huffington Post as well – I know a number of podcasts have taken time out to mention the tragic death of Robin Williams in the past month. Joan Rivers, too. But Robin in particular seemed to touch a nerve across the board with his passing. I spoke about it a bit last episode.

I knew Robin some, having grown up in the same area – Marin County – as well as going to the same high school and junior college just a few years behind him. And I had the opportunity to do improv with him on stage a number of times as well as just hangout with him from time to time. So I’ve had my say, really. (Although, if you’d like to see something I’ve written on it, I have a remembrance of Robin and his connection to Marin County that's up on the blog for Marin Magazinehere.)

Our associate producer Tyson Saner came up with a great idea and that is to give you a smattering of what some of the other podcasters have been saying about Robin. I said, “Go for it!” and he went out into Podcastland and clipped an even dozen different shows and that’s what our show this episode is going to be about. Tyson asked if I would relax our usual policy of playing only three to five minute long clips. I thought that was an appropriate request, given the nature of what we’re doing here. So some of these are pretty long. Hope you don’t mind (and I hope the hosts of the shows we’re playing these from don’t mind us taking a bit more of a liberty that usual…)

I know theres been a lot of about Robin's life – and his death – since his tragic suicide a month or so ago on August 11th. Maybe you’re tired of hearing about it. I can understand that, but he was a personal acquaintance of mine and a great friend to San Francisco comedy, not to mention a global icon. But if this sort of tribute is too heavy or not you cup of tea, I get it. Feel free to give this episode a pass if you want, but you’re going to miss some great words spoken about a comedian, actor, father, husband and friend who was truly beloved.

Also In This Episode

We still have our usual roundup of the stuff we like doing, like our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian & social lampooner Will Durst (It's actually a double dose o' Durst this episode!), a classic Henderson’s Pants commercial, our Tweetsack segment, and an extra big clip mention/clip/message from the Chillpak Hollywood Hour with Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness. Plus our exclusive feature that we like to call…

The 10 Most Active Shows In Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

We're not satisfied just to look at the top 10 shows on the list of Top 100 comedy podcasts over at Stitcher - mostly because those rarely change. Instead, we like checking out the shows that are moving the most up OR down the charts. Here's how they looked this past week…

This past week on Splitsider.com, as part of This Week In Comedy Podcasts, I reviewed The Louie Anderson Podcast Epi5, "Robin Williams: A Friend and Legend Remembered", which was chock full of comedians' remembrances of Robin. That same review appears on the Huffington Post.

World Premiere of 3 Still Standing

The documentary film that I've been mentioning on Succotash, entitled 3 Still Standing, is about to make its debut in the fairly prestigious Mill Valley Film Festival! I did a bit of bheind the scenes work, some consulting and even some on camera stuff for this movie, which take a look at the San Francisco comedy scene, from the early 1980s through present day. It does by examining the lives and careers of a trio of working comedians: Our own Will Durst, past guest Larry "Bubbles" Brown, and Johnny Steele.

The movie's premiere is set for Saturday, October 4th, 5 PM, at the Sequoia Theater in downtown Mill Valley, California. Then, at 8 PM, just down the street at the 142 Throckmorton Theatre, I will be hosting the 3 Still Standing Live On Stage comedy show with the three comics, the film's directors and producers, and more. If you're interested in tickets, hop on over to the film festival's online box office at http://MVFF.com

The Clips

The Christopher Titus PodcastWe start the clips off with a slice from the top of The Christopher Titus Podcast, the section Chris Titus calls “The Armageddon Update”. This was cut just two days after Robin moved along, and you can hear the emotion in Chris’ voice as he talks about his personal hero.

The Evil Teddy Bear PodcastIn the clips we have for this episode about Robin, there's only this one in which we hear from a woman. The host of The Evil Teddy Bear Podcast, Korey Epps, did his own Robin tribute and one of the people who spoke was actress Stephanie Erb. (We get a lot of Twitter love and support for our show from Korey, so thanks as always for passing the Succotash!)

The Nick Di Paolo PodcastI like that we’re getting a chance to hear from some podcasts we’ve not had a chance to clip so far in the two and a half years that Succotash has been plying the podwaves. The Nick Di Paolo Podcast is one of those. Nick Di Paolo a great comic, a very real guy, and his Epi42 was entitled R.I.P. Robin Williams.

About Last NightNick Di Paolo’s not much of a Mrs. Doubtfire fan but someone who is? Adam Ray, co-host of the About Last Night podcast with Brad Williams. (BTW, I just met Brad for the first time a couple of weeks ago, at the first comedy show that was done after Robin’s death at the 142 Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley. He's San Francisco-bound to take over morning drive duties on KITS 105.5 FM. Good luck, Brad!)

The Smartest Man In The WorldHere are some wonderful remembrances from Greg Proops, host of The Smartest Man In The World podcast. I know Greg very well from being in an improv group with him in San Francisco before he got onto Whose Line Is It Anyway. And we’ve both done stage work with Robin, separately and together. This was recorded while Greg was over at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Nerd PokerWe have another tribute from some more of Robin's hometown boys. This was at the end of an episode of Nerd Poker with Brian Posehn & Friends. In this case, Brian Posehn, Blaine Capatch and Ken Daly, along with guest Dave Anthony, talk about their memories of Robin. Everyone chatting here except Ken really got their comedy chops in San Francisco and so crossed paths with Robin a number of times.

The Chong & Chong ShowOne of the clips Tyson grabbed is from a podcast by a comedian who’s been in the game longer than Robin by more than half a decade. Tommy Chong, along with his son Paris Chong, hosts The Chong & Chong Show. And we have Tommy giving his perspective on Robin.

This Week with Larry MillerLarry Miller, host of This Week with Larry Miller, prefaced his thoughts about Robin by talking about Lauren Bacall. Larry has got to be one of the classiest guys in comedy and he had a narrow brush with death himself a couple of years ago when he took a fall and smacked his head pretty badly. Here’s his take on Robin…

Stuck In The 80sHere’s a clip from a show we’ve never featured before – Stuck In the 80’s. It’s all 80‘s stuff all the time – movie, TV, music, pop culture – and host Steve Spears and his rotating pool of co-hosts dive into the “Reagan Era” with gusto. Robin Williams is a personality who transcended 40 years of show business and our culture and the 80’s was a big chunk in the middle of that.

HarmontownDan Harmon, the creator of TV’s Community as well as Adult Swim’s Morty & Jack, is the mayor of Harmontown, a live podcast, aided by his Comptroller Jeff Davis. Harmon and Jeff had a few things to say about Robin recently.

The Todd Glass ShowHere’s some personal memories of running into Robin by Todd Glass on his The Todd Glass Show podcast, along with his guests Ian Karmel and Rob Gleeson.

Miller TimeThe last Robin clip we have this episode is from Dennis Miller, who has been doing Miller Time, a daily radio show/podcast, for years now. As a major comedy fixture and trained observer of pop culture and society at large, his is a particularly moving reminiscence of Robin.

Thanks to all the hosts and guest of the podcasts we clipped this episode to make this special Rememberin' Robin episode happen. Our next episode we'll be back with an interview with The Amazing Johnathan, as well as clips from more comedy podcasts from around the internet!

Until, then, please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:49:57yespodcast,dan,miller,nick,davis,comedy,poker,christopher,williams,ray,hollywood,jeff,brian,larry,marc,adam,tommy,chong,robin,todd,brad,titus,glass,di,dennis,paolo,nerd,clip,posehn,epps,korey,harmon,chillpak,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi93: Workin' It with W. Kamau BellMon, 01 Sep 2014 22:12:07 +0000Yes, it’s me, your old – or, perhaps, new – friend, Marc Hershon and I'm your concierge for Epi93 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. First off, let me apologize for the delay in bringing you this episode of the podcast.

I have been swamped with both my regular job, which is a full-time, in-the-office, meeting-with-clients, boss-to-answer-to kind of thing, and I have also been doing some writing in my off hours, which is more fun but less profitable. (Several articles coming out for Marin Magazine, the first one in the September issue!) And I’m helping a buddy work on a screenplay long distance, which involves a lot of emails, phone calls and pecking away on a file we keep sending back and forth to each other.

Back to Succotash. Normally we feature a generous helping of clips from comedy podcasts from around the internet. I’m still sort of coming out of “recovery mode” from the tragic suicide of Robin Williams, so the next couple of episodes are going to be a little different than the usual fare.

Although SOME of the usual fare will be in here, too. I do have several clips that have been harvested by our associate producer Tyson Saner. And we’ve got a double dose o’ Durst with TWO Bursts O’ Durst with comedian/social commentator Will Durst, the 10 Most Active Shows in Stitcher’s Top 100 Comedy Podcast List, and a brand new Henderson’s Pants commercial.

I’m going to talk a little bit about Robin in this episode mainly because, in my interview with this epi’s special guest, W. Kamau Bell, he and I talk about it toward the end of our time together. I interviewed Kamau a couple of weeks ago and we had only gotten the news a few days earlier so we kind of had to talk about it.

Kamau has recently moved back to the Bay Area after being in New York to work on his Totally Biased TV show for FX and, fatally, for FXX. We chat about how he got that amazing opportunity via Chris Rock, as well as what some of his future plans may be now that the show is done. (Incidentally, if you’re in the Bay Area, particularly Marin County, Kamau is going to be doing his latest one man show, Oh, Everything, at the 142 Throckmorton Theatre on September 11th. Yep, 9/11. 8 PM. He's got a bunch of other dates and locations as well, including San Francisco, Sacramento and more. Click on his show title to take you to the show site where you can get tickets and more information.)

SpamBUSTERS!

I had cast Kamau in the pilot episode for a web series called SpamBUSTERS! that ended up not happening, along with Dana Eagle and Shane Elliott. Kamau and I discuss the project during our interview but here, for the first time, YOU get to see the rough cut of this "lost" pilot episode.

Personal Reflection

I am planning a special Robin tribute episode, which is likely to be entirely clip-based. Tyson is working hard to round up as many clips as he can find where the podcasters mention and reflect on Robin and who he way, as well as what he meant and brought to people. Related to that, I was texting with our friend, Phil Leirness, co-host of the Chillpak Hollywood Hour, just two days after it happened and he asked me how I was feeling. I told him “Stunned.” He responded on their show this week much as he did to me in text form and I have included that response in this episode.

I first saw Robin perform in a little club in Sausalito, just over the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, in 1978. He was a few years ahead of me at the same high school and at the same junior college before he headed off to Julliard. But I never crossed paths with him then. But after I saw him perform the first time, I started hanging out in the comedy scene in San Francisco in the late 70’s and early 80’s and we’d see each every so often. We occasionally even ended up sharing a stage and doing improv together from time to time and he was a fairly regular fixture in my comedy life during the past 30 years.

When he was hanging out back in Marin County again after his CBS TV show got cancelled, he was down. Depressed, I guess. But not dour or morose. At the most, you might suspect he’d start drinking again. Or using coke or some other drugs that he used to be into. But no one that I know that knew him figured on him ending it all.

So “stunned”, at least for me, was a viable reaction to carry me through the first week and a half without him being around. Then grief starts to creep in, and sadness, and that horrible, horrible knowledge that I’ll never see him hanging around the scene any more. He’ll never be a surprise who you didn’t even know was in town but somehow found out we were doing improv at some shithole bar somewhere and there he was, bounding up on stage out of the darkness and already in character to help move the scene ahead.

But enough of that for now.

We deal, as we do, when one of our own has gotten lost and wanders away. And we hope that others around us will take it as a cue to perhaps say something if they can shake the grip of that demon they’re wrestling with long enough to ask for some help.

The 10 Most Active Shows In Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

The numbers in the Top 100 Comedy Podcast list on Stitcher have settled down a bit from my last report, but it seems like the Top 10 is finally getting pierced and it’s good to see some action at the top.

Since we’re not playing a ton of clips this episode, if you’re looking to sample some new meat, hop over to http://Stitcher.com, dip into the Comedy Top 100 list and find something new to put in your ears.

Reviews

This past week I reviewed Mohr Stories with Jay Mohr and his guest Adam Ferrara for both Splitsider.com and also Huffington Post. I got a nice thank you tweet from Adam for the review. Never expect those sorts of things when I put something out there, but it’s nice when it happens. As part of those reviews, I also listened to Men In Blazers welcome back the Premier League, and We Have Concerns: Immortality Transfusion

Clips

The Funny Looking PodcastWe hop across the Pond for this one, hosted by Gav and Pete. I don’t know a whole lot about the guys behind Funny Looking but, from their homesite I took the following: “Funny Looking is a podcast recorded by two men with some terrible audio equipment. Our aim is to seek out the funny in this slowly decaying world. We all need a laugh and hopefully Funny Looking can guide you to something worth your time. At the very least, our podcast should be able to brighten up the commute to work when you are sandwiched between snogging teenagers and smelly sweaty businessmen.” In this clip, from their Epi14, Gav and Pete talk to Teresa Coyne and Mark Silcox, who were involved in the Machynlleth Comedy Festival.

Getting GeekyPart of the Great American Broadcast Network, or GABnet, comes a podcast or internet radio show called Getting Geeky with Miranda Janell. Her website says: “She's smart. She's wired in to today's social media. She knows and loves science and technology. She makes all of it easy to understand and more than that, makes it fun. Then there's movies and TV, where she is very opinionated and yes she can get passionate about politics too. All this adds up to make her the snarky geek queen of GABNet.” Our associate producer Tyson Saner found her and sliced off a hunk just for you…

Angry Beards PodcastWe have a standing offer on this show where we offer you the chance to tell us about YOUR favorite comedy podcasts that we maybe haven’t had a chance to cover and play a clip from yet. We recently got a tweet from the Angry Beards Podcast suggesting we pay attention to The Dollop, with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds. But come on -- if you tell us your show is called Angry Beards, we have GOT to check that shit out. Here are Alex and Anthony, the owners, one supposes, of the aforementioned angry beards. Not a whole lot of info about Alex and Anthony. What there was Tyson managed to shake out of their podcast app: “Two angry bearded men. Discussing life in a small town and providing useful information along the way.”

The DollopThe fact is we actually featured a clip from the very first episode of The Dollop, when Dave Anthony was flying solo and trying something new when Greg Behrendt stepped off the grid for a bit and there were no new Walking The Room episodes going on. What's changed is that Dave has been joined on The Dollop by Gareth Reynolds. Tyson clipped this from Epi18, where they’re discussing famous French serial imposter Frederic Pierre Bourdin, aka "The Chameleon".

Final Word

This epi clocks in at an hour and forty-five minutes. Some people think these Succotash episodes are getting too long. I prefer to think of us as the podcast that keeps giving.

You can remember to give, too, by visiting our Succotash site and either using our Amazon banner every time you want to go shopping in the world’s largest everything store, OR clicking on our Donate button and pitching us some pennines that way, OR click on through from our homesite to our Succotashery to buy some merch. Easy peasy, Succotash squeezy.

Now get out there and pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:45:40yespodcast,the,funny,comedy,podcasts,williams,w,dave,marc,getting,hour,phil,bell,robin,anthony,kamau,clips,looking,tyson,angry,saner,beards,geeky,chillpak,succotash,hershon,leirness,dollopSuccotash Epi92: Talkin' with Team SpeechlessSun, 10 Aug 2014 23:34:50 +0000This show is a veritable pastiche of comedy podcasts from all over the interwebs as, each week, my self and our esteemed associate producer, Tyson Saner, get out there and harvest clips from shows both far AND wide.

Sometimes comedy podcasters themselves even send along clips from their shows – which they are always welcome to do – after all, who knows their shows better than they themselves?

In this show, Epi92, we have got not only a solid handful or so of clips but also an interview with three guys who are behind a show some Succotashians will have heard me mention before. The show — Speechless – is a live comedy show with a whole new format that’s been running San Francisco for the past year and a half. (Full disclosure: I’ve been a part of the behind-the-scenes action.) It’s beginning to get some real notice and it’s also starting to get out beyond the Bay Area. In fact, coming up on August 25th, Speechless will make its debut in New York.

Very exciting stuff, and later on in the show I’ll have my interview with Sammy Wegent (who was our guest way back in Epi35, talking about his web series Everybody's A Comedian) and producers Scott Lifton and Anthony Veneziale.

The Usual Stuff

On tap this episode we have TWO Burst O' Durst segments with political/cultural comedian Will Durst, a classic Henderson's Pants commercial, and our Tweetsack segment.

They're Back (Almost…)

One of the things we're playing for you in this epi is a teaser announcement from our friends at the Superego podcast. They will be back with long-awaited season 4 in September and, as part of the announcement, it seems that Paul F. Tompkins - who was a frequent guest with Superego in the past - is now a regular cast member.

The Top 10 Most Active Show in Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

Normally when I look at the Top 100 Comedy Podcasts on Stitcher, I don’t even glance at the top ten any more because it never seems to change. But this past week, it looks like some shifting has been going on – there’s even a show up there I’ve never heard of! And normally the moves are pretty meek – get a load of the swing numbers this week:

There was a LOT of action in that Top 100 list this week – those were just the top movers. Hop over to http://Stitcher.com and you can check it out yourself.

The Clips

Here are the comedy podcasts that we're featuring in this episode. To visit each show's homesite, simply click on the title to the show listed below.

Attaboy ClarenceOkay, so this podcast that is not a comedy podcast per se. The host is not a comedian and the subject matter, although some it may venture into the comedy area, is also not about comedy. Nonetheless, the Attaboy Clarence podcast IS a funny offering, as served up by the host, Adam Roche. The focus is classic movies and old time radio shows – which, for my money, is the closest thing there has ever been, historically speaking, to podcasts. This clip is actually the opening to the show from recent episode 17, harvested by our AP, Tyson Saner, and recommended to us by both @Good_Podcasts and Megan M aka @PodcastWhore.

The Snooki Podcast OR The Naturally Nicole PodcastI was not a fan or even a viewer of The Jersey Shore when it was taking TV by storm. Not a fan of reality TV at all, actually. (Mostly because I write for TV and why would I be rooting for content that gives me LESS of a chance of writing than I already fight against?) Anyway, Jersey Shore. Not a fan. Not really sure who Snooki is. Nor is she, apparently. She has a podcast now – so you KNOW podcasting is beginning to hit the mainstream – and even she can’t decide to call it The Snooki Podcast or The Naturally Nicole Podcast, because Nicole Polizzi is her real name.

Grumpy Young MenTommy and Justin are a couple of Canadian lads who host the Grumpy Young Men podcast. And they grouse about everyday topics like movies, technology, business, and life in general. Like most of the podcasts featuring guys sitting around and chatting about stuff, they’re about as well informed as anyone else who gets their news from Twitter, Google, and web chatter in general.

Broken FilterGot a request via the Twitter to check out a podcast called Broken Filter, hosted by Rockstar Joe and Jonesy. I get the feeling after checking out their site that they frequently have guests, although I clipped a chunk out of a recent show that featured just the two hosts together. (They actually do a “livecast” every Tuesday night at 8 PM EDT from Port Chester, New York, via video on ZenTV.tv, then audio podcast it later.) The clip we have features one of their usual feature, Random Thoughts.

WANHTPY (We Are Not Here To Please You)If you’re new to Podcastland you may not know that podcasting is truly an international phenomenon. And here on Succotash, we regularly features shows from all over the place, including the US, Canada, Britain, and Australia. I think THIS is the first time that we’ve gotten a slice from a show in Finland, all thanks to the hosts – Rafael and Arttu – suggesting that we give their show a listen. Our man Tyson grabbed a chunk from W-A-N-H-T-P-Y, that’s how it’s listed on iTunes. It stands for We Are Not Here To Please You and that’s a tough call which of those you’re even going to remember. Rafael is German. Arttu is Finnish. And their website says they decided to record a podcast “just for the hell of it.” Huh. I think that’s everybody’s story, really. But these guys do it in Finland, so that’s something different. Their guest this episode is J. Scott Peter, who has something to do with the video game biz.

That's it for Epi92. Feel free to help us out in defraying the costs behind doing this podcast. There are THREE different ways right on the Succotash homesite itself that you can use: The Amazon banner at the top of the page, the Donate button on the right-hand side of the page. Or the Succotashery - where our merch lives - also on the right-hand side. Little help?

Please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:43:03yescomedy,podcasts,scott,marc,anthony,clips,sammy,succotash,hershon,speechless,wegent,lifton,vanazialeSuccotash Epi91: Revelin' with Nick RevellSun, 27 Jul 2014 06:00:41 +0000Hello! Yes, this is the episode blog for Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. And we're up to Epi91, to be exact.

Not familiar? What we mostly do is play clips from comedy podcasts from all over the internet. Some we pick – and by “we” I mean myself and our Associate Producer Tyson Saner. Others get submitted by the comedy podcasters themselves. Still others are suggested by listeners who want to make sure their favorite podcasts are being shared.

For this show, we’ve got a half-dozen clips lined up and ready to roll. PLUS we have a special guest as well! Nick Revell, one of the creators and hosts of No Pressure To Be Funny, a very funny panel show out of England which we happen to be a big fan of here at Succotash.

Nick is a standup comedian and a writer. While NPTBF is on summer hiatus right now, he is doing a one-man show at the Ediburgh Fringe Festival, which we are hoping to be able to feature some audio clips from in the very near future. Like the best podcasters, he's witty, clever, and smart, so you'll want to listen on our chat this episode.

Before I forget to mention it, this last week I reviewed the Judge John Hodgman podcast for both This Week In Comedy Podcasts on Splitsider.com and it's also up on my blog in the comedy section of the Huffington Post. (Click on the links and you should feel free to read, share, Like, Tweet and comment as you wish…)

Here's who we're clipping on the podcast this week (more details and links to the shows follow below): Chillpak Hollywood Hour, The X-Files Files, The 10-ish Minutes Show, Feliz Navipod, and Walking The Room.

In addition we have our Burst O' Durst segment, featuring political comedian Will Durst who, this week, take some potshots an the largely inaction GOP slugabout in the Senate and the House. There's also a classic Henderson's Pants commercial, our Tweetsack segment and my usual wry commentary.

The Ten Most Active Show In Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

As heard only on Succotash, this feature mentions which podcasts showed the most movement, either up OR down Stitcher's list of most listened-to comedy podcasts.

ATMOVED34 Bertcast’s Podcast +838 The Smartest Man in The World -440 SModcast >> Edumacation +1647 This Week in Blackness Radio -664 The Champs with Neal Brennan & Moshe Kasher -1574 Pointless with Kevin Perreira -786 Nobody Likes Onions +687 DVDASA with David Choe and Asa Akira -588 New York City Crime Report +2091 The Mike Betancourt Show +8

And Now…The Clips

Chillpack Hollywood HourOur friends Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness recently made the jump from independent to network status when they joined up with Blogtalk Radio to carry the Chillpak Hollywood Hour. Thank heavens that, even while donning their network "big boy pants", they still give this little ol' podcast a cheery shoutout. (Make me feel kinda bad that I took a shot at one of their faithful listeners who goes by the handle "Agent Summer" because he took their tip, listened to Succotash, didn't much care for what he heard and gave us a two-star rating and a review on iTunes that groused about how obscene the show is. Even though we mark it as being "Explicit". And just because some of the clips we play can sometimes get a little…salty… contentwise.)

The X-Files FilesAs a big fan of TV's The X-Files, I've been enjoying this new entry into Podcastland by Kumail Nanjiani. He, along with a guest, spend each episode deconstructing one (or two) episodes of the hit TV show.I beleive I can rightfully take credit for lighting the fuse that got the latest edition together: I had suggested that Kumail ping the aforementioned Dean Haglund and line him up to guest when it came time to talk about "E.B.E", the X-Files episode that introduces The Lone Gunmen, a trio of conspiracy nutballs that featured Dean as Langley, the long-haired, horn-rimmed rocker of the group. Particularly if you're an X-Phile, there is some great inside dope in this episode.

The 10-ish Minutes ShowHosted by MJ Hughes, Rob, and Sarah, their specialty is being a platform for new comedy writers to get their stuff produced. Sounds like they’re out of England and their show is a bit along the lines of another show from Britain: the 4 AM Cab podcast in the fact that they invite writers to contribute. Which I think is great – the more the merrier, actually. (My bad, incidentally – I told Michael Hughes that I’d use their clip back in Epi89 and I lost the download…)

Feliz NavipodWish it could be Christmas every day? Willing to settle for once a week? Every week I become aware of more and more pdocasts that demonstrate we are in the midst of micro-targeting our audiences in Podcastland. Our Associate Producer nabbed this clip from Feliz Navipod, with host Tony Thaxton. The show, year-round, is in the spirit of those old Christmas specials on TV, like Andy Williams used to do. In Epi24, Tony’s guests were Carol Spinney – the voice of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch from “Sesame Street”, and Dave LaMattina.

Walking The RoomTyson brings us a clip from Walking The Room, a show I really like but with a pair of hosts — Greg Behrendt and Dave Anthony — who won’t really give me the of time of day the couple of times our paths have crossed. (I even got all dressed up one night, with pants and everything, to go chat with them down at the Punchline in San Francisco. It was all set up in advance. And they blew me off. But I still like the show!

There it is, basically. If you like what we do here, I encourage you to rate and review Succotash on iTunes, Like us on Facebook, Thumbs Up us on Stitcher, "Heart" us on SoundCloud and click our Donate button on the http://SuccotashShow.com website.

Until next time, please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:20:53yesfunny,nick,comedy,to,podcasts,no,humor,marc,be,pressure,revell,pdocast,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi90: Chitterin' with Jordan BradySun, 06 Jul 2014 16:58:33 +0000Welcome to Epi90 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, the show that tracks down clips of comedy podcasts from all over the web and sweeps them into a neat pile every week or so for you to scoop up with your dustpan-like ears and enjoy. You, dear reader, must also like to sweep a little bit into your eyes, since you're visiting the show blog.

We’ve got a jammed packed episode: A half a dozen podcast clips. TWO of our Burst O’ Durst segments with political comedian and social commentator Will Durst, who talks to us about the Washington Redskins debacle and how to properly observe the 4th of July. A brand new Henderson’s Pants commercial for their "Camo CutOffs". Not to mention the TweetSack.

But we also have a special guest for Epi90, making his return to the Succotash microphones: Jordan Brady, who was here last time to talk about his documentary called I Am Comic.

Now he has his followup movie out – which he was musing about doing the last time we chatted with him – and it’s called I Am ROAD Comic. It’s a funny documentary and neat little study of comedy and comics on the road. I’m very excited to have Jordan back on the show and he was very kind to give me a lot of time in our Skype chat which you will hear in this episode. The interview is pretty long, so the show is front-loaded with the clips and other business and then we’ll spent the rest of the episode with Jordan.

Since he last joined us, he’s also become a podcaster, hosting Respect The Process. It's a show about the world of commercial film production and we talk about that in our interview as well.

(BTW, the title for this epi's blog came from a lip slip I made while talking to Jordan - a cross between chatting and Twitter, which was inadvertently coined to describe carrying on a prolonged exchange with someone via Twitter. Too bad Rich Hall doesn't write Sniglets books any more!)

THE 10 MOST ACTIVE SHOWS ON STITCHER'S TOP 100 COMEDY PODCAST LIST

I'm not sure if anyone really appreciates or enjoys this feature but I do! It keeps me looking at the top-ranked shows on Stitcher and that helps me to stay in touch with what's going on out there in PodcastLand. So a shout-out to Ed Wallick from the Don't Quit Your Daycast podcast who gave me the idea for this list in the first place!

One thing I always appreciate is the kind mention of this show on the Chillpak Hollywood Hour by hosts Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness pretty much every episode. An offshoot of that is my appreciation of Dean's yodel of our show's name, which has begun to really develop over time, as can be heard over the theme song for this installment and again at the tail end of the show.

CLIPS

Thanks, as always, to our Associate Producer Tyson Saner, who provided a number of the clips heard this episode!

The Geek GenerationThis clip - from a podcast we’ve featured before – was provided by the main man behind the show, Rob Logan. He says, “We've started playing a game on The Geek Generation called Smash-Up, which combines two categories or concepts of things together, creating some hilarious results for things you've probably never heard of. Recently, our Smash-Up category was to combine Godzilla with any other movie, and in this clip myself and my co-host Mikey read the responses sent in from our super-creative fans.”

Word to the wise: Comedy podcasters are welcome to submit 3-5 minute MP3 or WAV clips from their shows to clips@SuccotashShow.com, and we'll feature them on the show!

Proudly ResentsFriend-of-Succotash and past special guest Adam Spiegelman recently posted a "Succotash Shoutout" version of his show Proudly Resents. He had some bits, pieces, and tail ends of interview from his podcast so he put them together, Succotash-fashion, to serve to his listeners. Thanks, Adam! We're featuring part of that stew: A snippet of a conversation Adam had with filmmaker Jeremy Sklar.

Revelstoke Jim’s Canadian ContentTyson harvested this next clip and, he couldn’t have known this, but I’ve been aware of Revelstoke Jim since the early aughts. It was around the year 2000 or 2001 that I began to make a series of guest appearances on But Seriously, an early webcast – there was an attempt by some broadcast-oriented companies to livecast shows – hosted by comedian Brian Malow. His show was part of a rudimentary network of shows and the one that was on right after his was hosted by none other than Revelstoke Jim. So I would catch snippets of his show. Here, some decade and some years later, is yet another snippet, live and direct from Revelstoke, British Columbia.

Comedy And Everything ElseWe had comedian Fred Stoller on Succotash way back in Epi15 when we were one of the first podcasts that he’s been a guest on. Since then, Fred’s become a favorite guest of a lot of shows. (So many, in fact, that I’m surprised he hasn’t started one of his own, because he’d be a great host, I think.) He was on a recent episode of Comedy & Everything Else, hosted by comedian Jimmy Dore and Stefanie Zamorano, who co-host a solid, funny show (in league with Dore's own The Jimmy Dore Show.)

Green Up!The world of pop culture-based comedy podcasts is both deep and wide, which means there are a lot of them. Tyson found us this one, which I hadn’t heard of before, hosted by Roy, Phillip, and Ryan. (Or, as they refer to themselves on their show blog, “three fatties”.) Their focus is on video games – console and PC, as well as TV, movies, and podcasts. (Hmm. Wonder if they ever mention SuccotashI?) In this clip, they’re musing about getting a-whuppin’ as a kind of celebration of Father’s day.

There's your Epi90 in a bloggy nutshell. Enjoy! And don't say I never gave you anything…

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:47:51yesand,jim,comedy,comic,podcasts,humor,geek,road,marc,am,brady,i,else,everything,generation,jordan,clips,tyson,durst,saner,proudly,revelstoke,chillpak,succotash,hershon,resents,tweetsack,greenupSuccotash Epi89: Hobnobbin' With Hob The TrollThu, 26 Jun 2014 13:49:23 +0000Hello, chum! It is I, Marc Hershon, purveyor of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast and your ears are hearing Epi 89! (If you’re a subscriber to us via ConnectPal, you’re hearing this two days before anyone else!)

If you found Succotash through iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, our Facebook page or any other means, would you do us a favor? Go back and rate us if you can. Five stars on iTunes and a short review. A "thumbs up" on Stitcher. A heart on SoundCloud. Whatever you have access to, it costs you nothing and makes a world of difference to us. Of course, if you want to contribute more substantially, I invite you to click the Donate button on our http://SuccotashShow.com homesite.

Epi89 features my audio visit with podcaster, raconteur, singer, Ren Faire hanger-on, and bridge hanger-outer Hob The Troll. Although there are millions of trolls on the internet, Hob is the only actual troll-troll that I know of, and how luck are we that he hosts a regular Hobcast? He's had a number of wonderful guest on his show, some in character, some that just ARE characters, including Hal Lublin from The Thrilling Adventure Hour, who has been on our show a couple of times now.

SUCCOTASH ZIPPER PULLS ARE HERE!

Our newest tchotchke, the Succotash Zipper Pull, is here! This nifty thingy features a wee Succotash button clamped onto a little hook that affixes to pretty much any zipper you may have around on your jacket, duffel bag or gimp suit. If you're like one for FREE, you just need to email your snail mail address to zipper@SuccotashShow.com and we'll mail one out to you.

DOUBLE DOSE O' DURST

Once again, we've got two of our Burst O' Durst segments from cultural commentating comedian Will Durst this episode, as well as a "classic" Henderson's Pants commercial and a nifty set of clips – most of which were culled this week byour Associate Producer Tyson Saner.

THE 10 MOST ACTIVE SHOWS ON THE STITCHER TOP 100 COMEDY PODCAST LIST

The idea to focus on the 10 most ACTIVE shows on Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List (rather than the Top 10 shows, which rarely ever change…) originally came to us from Ed Wallick, host of the Don't Quit Your Daycastpodcast. Just wanted to mention that because Ed let us know that he just bought some new podcasting equipment and used our Amazon banner at the top of the SuccotashShow.com website to get to that fabulous online everything store. You can, too, and Amazon will then kick us back a few quatloos to help us keep this operation going.

Here's this week's 10 Most Active…

ATMOVED

25 How Did this Get Made? -729 SModcast >> Jay & Silent Bob Get Old +1531 Bertcast’s Podcast +643 This Week In Blackness Radio +551 Sklarbro Country +755 The Brian Callen Show +1058 What About Pod? -2061 The Champs w/Neal Brennan & Moshe Kasher -1065 The Cracked Podcast -3779 Harmontown -13

EXTRA PLUG

An Indiegogo campaign went up this week that's near and dear to the hearts of those privy to the San Francisco comedy scene. The Comedy Club focuses on Cobb's Comedy Club, from its inception in the Marina District through it's relocation and subsequent fire in the Cannery to its present location downtown. The comedians who have crossed the Cobb's stage range from the legendary to the obscure, and it's a story that's been lovingly told by filmmaker David Schendel. The film's almost all done except for final processing bits n' pieces. Check out the trailer and maybe even get your name in the credits at https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-comedy-club.

THE CLIPS

Chillpak Hollywood HourWe usually feature a snippet from this show each week that has Chillpak Hollywood hosts Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness mentioned Succotash. But the boys have been busy and that means pre-recorded shows with guests and not much mention of us. (Although they did tag us at the very end of the most recent show - thanks, guys!) So I figured this was a good opportunity to play a straight-up clip of this excellent show. It's a story of Dean's early days in Hollywood, and who he found when he went star-spotting at the once-popular Sky Bar.

The Wolf DenThis show from the Earwolf Network, subtitled “The Business and Future of Podcasting”, is hosted by the network's co-founder Jeff Ulrich. It was just announced this past week that Mr. Ulrich is stepping down as CEO of Earwolf and also The Midroll, which is his podcast advertising agency. In an open letter to the Internet, he let everyone know that he’s taking a bit of a hiatus from showbiz, spending time with his family and figuring out his next steps in life. (I'm assuming The Wolf Den is either going away or maybe transitioning to a new host…) We feature a slice of Jeff’s chat with guest and fellow podcasting magnate Chris Hardwick from The Nerdist Network.

The Smartest Man In The WorldI just did a review of Greg Proops’ The Smartest Man in the World for Splitsider and Huffington Post. And I realized it’s been a while since I clipped that show, which is a great example of – as I say in the review – a Master of the Spew. Someone who can keep up a steady stream of entertaining solo monologue. There are podcasters like Bill Burr and Larry Miller and Marc Maron who are certainly Spew Masters but Greg is one of the only guys who really only does it in front of a live audience as opposed to in a studio or an apartment or whatever. He was recently over in Wales, at the literary Hay Festival in the town of Hay and I pulled a slice of him getting into a riff around one of Wales’ favorite sons…

Dining with Doug & KarenDoug Benson is, perhaps, most famous for his Doug Loves Movies podcast but he’s funny at so much else, including his Benson Interruptions and his Getting Doug With High YouTube show. With all that pot smoking that DB does though, comes a powerful need to feed. I’m not sure if that was the inspiration for Dining with Doug and Karen, featuring Mr. Benson and Karen Anderson but, high or not, you'll enjoy them along with guest Greg Behrendt as they all eat “Belly Bombz Asian fusion wings".

Norm MacDonald LiveThere have only been about 15 episodes of Norm MacDonald Live, with comedian Norm MacDonald and co-host Adam Eget, and it’s actually a VIDEOcast from The Video Podcast Network, which is probably why it wasn’t exactly on my radar until now. (The 'sodes are later released as audiocasts via iTunes.) We're featuring a clip from a recent outing in which Norm was lucky enough to corral comic great Carl Reiner on the show.

TANcastThe TANcast is a show I’ve seen tweets about but never listened to but then was inspired to when I saw some fun Photoshoppery by Tim Babb, one of the three hosts. He’s also a standup comedian, whereas his two buddies, Adam and Noah — T, A & N. TAN. TANcast, get it? — are not comics. But they were all roommates at one time and now, even though they are separated by distance, technology brings them together every week. This clip is from one of their regular features, TANLaughs, in which they read jokes sent in by their listeners. Sometimes really bad jokes.

There's Epi89 in a nutshell. Or a blog, rather. Hope you enjoy listening. If you do (or if you don't), or if you'd like to tell me about a comedy podcast worth clipping that we haven't featuring on Succotash yet, drop me a line at marc@SuccotashShow.com OR call into the Succotash Hotline at (818) 921-7212 (also uptuyu on Skype…) and leave a message that we'll feature on the show.

Help yourself to whatever’s in the fridge while I show you what we’ve got in store for you this episode…

First off, thanks to all the Succotashians who Liked and/or commented on the picture I posted on Facebook and Google+ last week of me holding my first place award for Editorial Cartoons from the California Newspaper Publishers Association! (I draw a weekly cartoon for the Half Moon Bay Review here in Northern California…)

Secondly, I don’t know if you bothered to listen in on our “halfisode” Epi87.5 last week, which was just me, rambling, on my way up Interstate 5 from Los Angeles. But this week it’s clips.

Clips, clips, clips.

Clips from comedy podcasts from around the world. Some I collected. Some were harvested by our ace associate producer Tyson Saner, and a few were sent in by comedy podcasters themselves. (BTW, if YOU’RE a comedy podcaster or if you’re a listener who has a suggestion for a comedy podcast we should clip, just drop me a note at marc@SuccotashShow.com and I'll hunt it down!)

But it's not just clips this time out. We also have our usual features back in place this episode, including a double dose of our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian Will Durst, the 10 Most Active Shows In The Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast List, the TweetSack segment AND a brand new Henderson’s Pants commercial!

Handy Tip: You can find link to the homesites for the shows we feature on each episode by clicking on the title for each show in the blog from our website, at http://SuccotashShow.com

The 10 Most Active Show on Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

AT MOVED12. The Bugle +1021. How Did This Get Made -1036. Jay & Silent Bob Get Old - 839. This Week in Blackness Radio +747. The Champs w/Neal Brennan & Moshe Kasher +2550. You Made It Weird w/Pete Holmes + 966. Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine +1668. Jim Florentine’s Metal Comedy Midgets + 881. Pointless: With Kevin Pereira +5091. The Artie Lang Show -7

Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal PodcastThis past week, for This Week In Comedy Podcasts for Splitsider.com AND for Huffington Post, I reviewed the premiere episode of Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast. It’s just Gilbert in his New York apartment, along with co-host Frank Santopadre, interviewing a different person for about an hour. Their first guest was Dick Cavett. Yeah, THE Dick Cavett. And it’s a good show – funny, touching, thoughtful, sophmoric at times and also occasionally a tad politically incorrect, which I think is great!

John Dredge’s "Nothing To Do With Anything Show"I’ve featured the very funny John Dredge’s Nothing To Do With Anything Show before but figured, since he just concluded his 3rd season of the show, I’d play a little piece so you can see why you’d want to go binge-listen the six episodes that constitute the third series.

The Jockularity ShowI had a shout out from The Jockularity Show podcast a few weeks ago on the Tweeter, along with a request to check out their show, which is part of the Torn By Sports blog out of Utah. Some of you Succotashians may recall how I stumbled through the most recent Fantasy Football season run by Chris Lanuti at the Broadcast Basement podcast. Clearly, I am not a “sports guy” and the Jocularity Show is just a clearly a “sports show”. They do get into some funny stuff, which qualifies them for this show but for a non-jock, I had kind of a tough slog making it through a couple of pretty straight ahead interviews. But that’s entirely on me – if YOU enjoy sports, you’ll most likely be right there with hosts Rick Aaron and David Wilbur. In this clip, they’re joined by their producer Allen as they talk about “walkup music” – the tunage that the players were being introduced to during the recent NFL draft.

Geeks With Wives & CapesBeen hearing a lot about this podcast called Geeks with Wives & Capes, mainly because a couple of friends of Succotash have guested recently, namely Phil Leirness from Chillpak Hollywood Hour and Ethan Dettenmaier from Combat Radio. So I was glad to get this clip, harvested by our Associate Producer Tyson Saner, from Ethan’s visit with Josh, Matt & Joe.

The Crunch Time ShowIn Epi87, I featured a clip of myself playing the Random 5 questions game on the Crunch Time Show podcast. I believe I mentioned that I would play a clip from the main part of the show at my next opportunity, which happens to be now. Here are hosts Wayne “Crunchy” Baggins and his wife, The Scully, talking about an embarrassing story around a cassette tape that haunts him to this day.

What A Pair of Trousers!Back in Epi84 we featured a clip from The Angry Chimp Show. This week I got a note and a clip from Stu of that podcast, informing us that the Chimp is taking a bit of a break. In its place, sort of, comes a new show entitled What a Pair of Trousers!, featuring Stu and three pals who met back in high school: Ben, Matt, and Rich. Stu says it’s the perfect opportunity for four old friends to get together and talk rubbish.

Old Enough to Know BetterTyson Saner has clipped us a slice of a podcast I’ve not heard of before called Old Enough To Know Better. Maybe the best way to sum up the gist of this show is to read their iTunes description: Perspective is everything and we're both seeking it and offering what we can. We're looking for some sanity and a way forward in the world, perhaps you can help? Sometimes digressive and silly, sometimes focused and serious, always honest and aiming to be more. Our taste features host Eden chatting up guests AJ – from the podcast Sup Dude, and Jason about the mechanics of stand-up comedy and storytelling on stage.

Like I’m An IdiotIsn’t it great when a podcaster hits on a simple formula that works? The kind that makes other podcasters kicks themselves for not having thought of it before? Josh Cagan has done it with his Like I’m An Idiot podcast, in which he is The Idiot and he ask smart people – i.e. his guests – to explain things to him. In his Epi29, he wanted guest Erika Hall to help him understand “What the fuck is going on in San Francisco?”

Picnic Time PodcastAssociate Producer Tyson Saner picked this of the Picnic Time Podcast which, I guess, is related to but not the same as the Picnic Time Radio Morning Morning Show. One host, Adam, is on both, but Jesse is only on the podcast. I think. I’m confused. Anyway, Adam and Jesse talk in this clip about an interesting revelation, so to speak, that has come to life about the late Pastor Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church.

In wrapping up Epi88, just a reminder that we tweet @SuccotashShow on Twitter and you can also like us on Facebook. Remember that if you’re shopping Amazon, please come to http://SuccotashShow.com first and click on the Amazon banner at the top of the page. You end up in the same place but when you buy something, we get a little taste from Amazon.

We’ve got a some interviews coming up in the next few episodes so that’ll be fun. And we’re getting ever nearer to our big Epi100 End of Season One Extravaganza! In the meantime, if there’ s a comedy podcast out there that we haven’t covered yet, please drop me a line at marc@succotashshow.com and tell me about it.

]]>01:05:42yespodcast,comedy,marc,pants,hendersons,succotash,hershon,tweetsackSuccotash Epi87.5: Roadtrippin' on the Kessel RunThu, 29 May 2014 15:23:15 +0000Here's "Halfisode" 87.5 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. I occasionally crank one of these mini-episodes out when I'm roadtripping between San Francisco and Los Angeles — or, as in this case, making the return trip.

Grover being Muppetnapped on I-5

If you're going to miss an episode of Succotash, this would be one to take a pass on. There are no clips, no interviews, no Henderson's Pants ads, no TweetSack, no Top 10 Most Active Show in Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List…in short, none of the usual features that you most likely know the show from. Well, that's not exactly true. I do finish off this halfisode with an extra Burst O' Durst with comedian Will Durst that I had hanging around.

If this is your first taste of Succotash, God help you. This is NOT representative of what we normally do. But it IS representative of what I do when I'm driving long distances and that is: Talk to myself. Or, as you have here, talk to you, the listener.

In this halfisode I ramble on about a number of topis, most of which are about podcasting although the longest stretch is all about what I did and who I saw while I was in Los Angeles for the better part of a week. Some of the folks I saw are podcasters – Rick Overton, Matt Weinhold,Phil Leirness, Dean Haglund. While some of the others (including the previously named) have been guests on past episodes of Succotash – Dana Carvey, Tom Carvey, Frank Cronin, Jon Manfrellotti.

I'm also introducing a new offering with this show: The chance to get your helping of Succotash before anyone else!

That's right. I'm experimenting with a new site and service called ConnectPal that allows you to create a subscription model for just about anything you can distribute on the web. So, for just TWO BUCKS a months (plus a 76¢ service charge), you'll be able to stream or download each epi of Succotash two days before I put it up on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud and anywhere else on the internet. So just click on the ConnectPal link in this paragraph and toss us a couple of bucks to get us first!

So that's about it for the rundown on Halfisode 87.5. This is just a little (40 minute) ramble to tide you over until fullsize Epi88, which will be up within the week!

Until next time, please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>42:17yespodcast,comedy,marc,succotash,hershon,halfisodeSuccotash Epi87: Deconstructin' with Geoffrey WelchmanFri, 16 May 2014 00:36:49 +0000Howdy hey there, friends and neighbors! You're reading the companion blog entry for Epi87 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. (Just 12 episodes left until we hit 100, which will mark the end of Season 1. What can I say? Long seasons. Kind of like the winters in Game of Thrones…)

In addition to a barrelful of podcast clips this episode, I had a fascinating chat with Geoffrey Welchman. I announced last week that GW was folding up the tent on Inverse Delirium, his 4-year-old podcast, which he has done. So then I thought it might be insightful to find out what led him to that decision and it is – so we’ll hear that in a little bit in addition to the final message to his listeners that he posted this past week.

We also have our Burst O’ Durst segment with comedian Will Durst, a classic Henderson’s Pants spot, the Tweetsack segment, the 10 Most Active Shows In The Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast List and, of course, our obligatory nod, salute, or genuflect to the boys (Dean Haglund & Phil Leirness) over at the Chillpak Hollywood Hour podcast, who just said goodbye to their 7th year in podcasting and mentioned us along the way. I also contrast and compare the old and the new theme songs for the Hob The Troll podcast.

The 10 Most Active Shows in Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcasts ListHere's where we look at the ten podcasts that have moved up or down the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast chart in the past week.

Chillpak Hollywood HourTo mark their anniversary, Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness have just moved their operation over to Blogtalk Radio, which doesn’t change things for the listener but gives them a nice solid production base.

Monster PartyBack in Succotash Epi53 I interviewed my friend and comedian Matt Weinhold who had, at the time, been experimenting with a new podcast idea that he and buddies James Gonis, Shawn Sheridan, and Larry Strohe – all Hollywood writers – had done on video where they drank adult beverages and talked about one main subject: Monster movies. Well, now Monster Party is an ongoing thing and in the most recent episode, the boys and guest Dana Gould sunk their teeth into vampire movies. In this clip they ponder the origins of Blackula.

NerdistLast week I reviewed the Nerdist with Chris Hardwick and Jonah Ray – Matt Myra wasn’t on this particular episode, where they interviewed director/actor/writer Jon Favreau, who has a new movie out that he both directed AND starred in called Chef. In this clip, they talk about spoilers and puzzle over the etiquette of how long you should wait before talking about a show.

IllusionoidOne of my favorite podcasts continues to be Illusionoid, which is an improvised science fiction comedy podcast out of Toronto. I’ve interviewed the three guys – Paul Bates, Lee Smart, and Nug Nahrgang (the best name is podcasting) – before and met them when they were in San Francisco for the SF Improv Festival last year. Haven’t played ‘em for a while though, so here’s a clip from their recent LIVE episode from Comedy Bar in Toronto, along with their special guests Craig Anderson, Ashley Comeau, and Kyle Dooley of Bad Dog Theatre.

Hob The TrollSome TV shows used to have very specific theme songs – think about things like the Addams Family – or an even better example in this case is Gilligan’s Island, where the theme song changed after the first season to include mentioned The Professor and MaryAnne instead of referencing them simply as “all the rest”. Hob The Troll is a show that is hosted by a character that pops up at Renaissance Faires around the country. He sings and does comedy and is easily the happiest, non-goat-eating troll around. In podcast form, Hob The Troll features guest characters, often played by actors and comedians, such as Mark Gagliarti’s King John. He recently upgraded his show’s opening theme song, both versions of which are so specific that I thought it would be fun to contrast and compare. And then I play a short clip with Hob and Corey Eno Ruffin, the guy who did the new theme song for the show.

Crunch Time ShowI got a note and a request from Wayne “Crunchie” Baglin, co-host of the Crunch Time Show (along with his wife The Scully), a podcast that looks at a myriad of geekiness, from games and movies to anything else that geeky nerdlings enjoy. They have a feature on the show called the "Random 5" where their showboard computer asks 5 random questions which you answer, then you get to ask one of your own. So Wayne asked if I’d play the Random 5 and here’s what happened…

The Bonn & Obo ShowIt’s been a long time coming but Epi9 – NINE! – of the Bonn & Obo Show has finally dropped. It’s a pretty inventive show BUT, since Bonn and Obo seem to rarely – if ever – get along, it take awhile to get those shows out. This last one took a solid YEAR. Which is why Bonn moonlights on The Strange Times Show as well. In this clip, Obo has had enough disrespect from his mic mate, Bonn, and decides to file a complaint.

Cashing In With TJ MillerHave you had a chance to catch Silicon Valley, the new Mike Judge comedy on HBO yet? Really funny, at least for those of us that live within spitting distance of the real Silicon Valley. And TJ Miller is one of the best parts of the show. He also can’t seem to showing up as a guest on the Cashing In podcast, which is probably why they’ve subtitled it With TJ Miller. Comedian Cash Levy hosts and TJ does what he does best, which is to wreak havoc.

The Dork ForestJackie Kashian and her show The Dork Forest continues to root out the well-known and semi-well-known who are into sometime some obscure or even archaic stuff. This snippet comes from her Epi227 with guest Emily Gordon – co-host of the Indoor Kids with husband Kumail Nanjiani. Jackie and Emily chat about comedy and mental health.

Center City ComedyA quintet of Philadelphia’s comedians - H. Foley, Kevin Ryan, Tom Cassidy, Reggie Conquest, and Andrew Schiavone – belly up to the mic and deliver up jokes, insults, and opinion about a variety of topics for Center City Comedy. The clip they sent in starts off about playing school basketball then sidetracks into a discussion about one of the guy’s long-lost classmates, a discussion which then disintegrates into unstoppable, contagious giggling.

All right, it’s time to saw goodbye to Epi87. Until next time, don’t be afraid to shop at Amazon by using the oh-so-handy banner at the top of our SuccotashShow.com page. Or click the Donate button you’ll see there and we’ll give you a hearty shout out during the next episode. Or click on the link to our Succotashery and purch some murch there – we’ll be eternally grateful and, again, will shout your name to the heavens.

I’m off to LA for a week. I may do a little Epi87.5 from the road if I’m in a mood for rambling. Otherwise it will be Epi88 when next we meet. Either way, please remember to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:36:42yescomedy,podcasts,marc,clips,geoffrey,welchman,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi86: Playin' With MyselfSun, 04 May 2014 23:12:13 +0000Hello, everyone! I'm your host and sommelier of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, and this is the official blog post accompaniment to Epi86. Before i get into the bulk of what this patest show is about, let's just take a moment out to consider that, in the midst of scraping this episode together, I found out that I have just won the first place award for an editorial cartoon I did this past year for the Half Moon Bay Review, the 100+ year old newspaper serving the Coastside community about 30 miles south of San Francisco.

Yay to me.

I've been doing the editorial cartoon - which I call a "phodoodle" because of the technique I use in putting it together with bits and pieces of various photos, then creating a more hand-drawn look to the results - week in and week out, for over a decade for the Review and this is the first year that the California Newspaper Publishers Association has so honored me, so I'm pretty jazzed!

I'm republishing the award-winning 'toon here. Why? And what does that have to do with this podcast? Nothing, really. But who else am I going to share that kind of news with, right?

3 Still Standing

Another thing that has little to do with this podcast in particular happens THIS Friday, May 9th, when yours truly will be hosting a Comedy Event. If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area, you're in range to hit the 142 Throckmorton Theater in Mill Valley, a stone's throw from San Francisco. That's where we're doing a benefit for a new documentary, 3 Still Standing - which I've mentioned on the show before - to help the filmmakers finish production on the movie. It looks at the San Francisco comedy boom of the 1980's by following the careers of three local comedians: Larry "Bubbles" Brown (a former Succotash guest), Johnny Steele, and our own Will Durst. The three guys will be performing during the show and the filmmakers, Robert Campos and Donna LoCicero, will be answering questions from the audience. You can get more info, including showtime and ticket links, at https://www.facebook.com/3StillStanding.

Empty Coffers

We just got our monthly statement as an Amazon Associate and it seems we made ZERO money from our Amazon portal at the top of our homepage this past month. Which means I need to start mentioning it more until you guys remember to click on the banner at the top of the page that takes you directly to Amazon, where you can do your shopping as usual. With no skin off your nose, Amazon then tosses us back a few quatloos which we use for equipment, monthly fees to Libsyn, our delightful web hosting service, and gin. In brief, that’s http://SuccotashShow.com to Amazon -> buy your stuff -> money back to us for new mics, web rent, and gin. Got it? Good!

Bursts O' Durst

Again this show I feature a Double Dose of Durst, since we missed a week somewhere between the last episode and now. So listen for Will Durst early in the show and then, again, toward the end.

Ahoy, Mateys!

We'll be serving a dessert course this episode! Just stay tuned after Bill Heywatt's closing credits to hear my narration for part of Epi10 of HMS Codcast, written and produced by Nigel Boydell. It was a blast to do, especially because I do several different voices, and whole rollicking seagoing chapter awaits at the very end of the show. (You can also click this link to be whisked to Nigel's Uncle Arthur's Collection of shows.)

The 10 Most Active Shows in Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcasts List

In case you’ve forgotten or if you’ve never heard this feature before, we look at the ten podcasts that have moved up or down the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast chart in the past week.

ATMOVED

10 How Did This Get Made? +1247 The Artie Lange Show +1053 Bertcast’s Podcast -1461 The Cracked Podcast +962 What About Pod? -1680 The New York City Crime Report w/Pat Dixon +789 The Dead Authors Podcast +2390 How Was Your Week with Julie Klausner -1092 Foreally Show w/ Rude Jude & Senim Silla +86100 Beats & Eats +9

The Clips

Oh, My. God. Do we have clips for you this episode. That's not a question, it's a statement. Thanks to the herculean efforts of our Associate Producer Tyson Saner, I have clips coming out of my ears this time around (very appropriate for an audio medium), which means you do, too. In fact, between the clips and the special HMS Codcast episode at the end, I believe this is the second longest Succotash episode in our 3 year history.

Chillpak Hollywood HourCongrats to Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness, the Ozzie & Harriet of Podcasting, as they observe their 7 years in the medium! The clip from this show is from the last of their Year 6 'sodes where they, as usual are mentioning Succotash mentioning them mentioning us and so on. As I mention in this episode, they've in the process of editing their newest feature film, a potboiler of a thriller with some comic overtones (undertones?), The Lady Killers! And here's their first trailer for the movie:

The Carson PodcastI love the premise for this next and relatively new podcast. The Carson Show is an example of how podcast DOES have something for everyone. Host Mark Malkoff talks with guests about legendary talk show host Johnny Carson. That’s it. That’s the core premise of the show! Guests include stand-up comics who debuted on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, individuals that worked on the show, frequent guests, and top entertainers that were influenced by Carson. In the first dozen episodes, Malkoff has interviewed Carol Burnett, Byron Allen, Martin Mull, and Dick Cavett. Tyson clipped Epi3 which features one of of my absolute favorite and highly underappreciated actors: Charles Grodin.

The Bob Zany ShowI got a note this past week from Erin O’Connor, who started out as a standup in San Francisco and has been in LA for ever so long. She started co-hosting The Bob Zany Show a number of months back and she thought we’d enjoy the conversation that she and Bob Zany had with Ella James, a voiceover actress and comedy transplant from Australia.

The Church of What’s Happening NowThe clip of The Church of What’s Happening Now is from their Epi159. Comedian Rick Ramos (host of Watch This) joins Joey Diaz and Lee in studio. Although this show included comedy manager Barry Katz calling in for one of the best calls in the shows history, the clip that Tyson got caught the moment that the recent earthquake hit in LA as they were recording.

Small Town BringdownBranden Grieder and Elliot Drew have spent their entire lives podcasting. But up until, 2011, they had never actually recorded themselves talking to each other. That has all changed. Listen in as they talk shit about shit weekly and that includes the clip we got.

Positive Push with Brody StevensI think Brody Stevens is hilarious, personally. He’s got a podcast called The Steven Brody Stevens Festival of Friendship but he’s also got a videocast which is live on Tuesday at noon on VPN – the Video Podcast Network. He welcomes comedians, athletes, and friends to discuss positive energy, bike riding, supplements, and more! Our associate producer Tyson Saner grabbed some audio featuring Brody and guest Brian Redban.

Modern Day Philosophers with Danny LobellWe clipped Modern Day Philosophers with Danny Lobell not too long ago – at least as far as our episodes go – but recently he had a friend-of-Succotash on: Rick Overton. Not only is Rick a guest on this episode but he also helped Danny move a couch before the show started. So they talk about that in addition to, I think, Plato.

Team Coco PodcastEvery week, according to the Team Coco podcast website, host Aaron Bleyaert hunts down and hog-ties a new celebrity or CONAN staffer to interrogate them about their jobs, what's in their pockets, and everything in between. It's the ultimate glimpse behind the scenes… except, you know, you take it with your ears. This clip he talks to Comedy Bang Bang's Scott Aukerman about what it was like shooting the Zach Galifianakis web series Between Two Ferns with guest and President Barack Obama.

The Inverse Delirium PodcastIt was with a heavy heart that I cued up this clip, an Exorcist spoof from The Inverse Delirium Podcast. I say that because host host and creator of the Inverse Delirium, Geoffrey Welchman, sent me a direct message on Twitter a couple of days ago saying he was shutting the show down after 4 years. I asked why and he said between his day job and other demands eating into his time and the fact he has “lost the spark”, as he put it, to get behind the show, he thought it was time to sign off for the last time. I predict he’ll be back. Until then, here’s what may be the last clip we play on Succotash from our friend Geoffrey. So long, Geoffrey! You’re a credit to the industry and your show will be missed.

The ChampsIn a clip from a February episode of The Champs with Neal Brennan & Moshe Kasher – a couple of very funny comedians who somehow manage to find the time to record these podcasts together on a regular basis – they interviewed Arsenio Hall, whose new TV show was recently picked up for a second season. He talks about when it was that he first realized he wanted to entertain people.

The Doghouse Bastards or DHB Radio ShowI’ve had the Doghouse Bastards (or DHB Radio Show) talked up be a few folks, including last episode’s special guest host Davian Dent. The host, Scott Taylor Scott, is from Scotland. I’m not sure about the Lurch Monster and NDD. But in this clip from show #159 “She’s Trying To Kill Me”, they mourn the loss of the WWE’s “Ultimate Warrior.”

The TravisphereAccording to the Podcast Summary as stated on the homesite of this next podcast: “The Travisphere is a glimpse into the world of Travis Knight, so give a listen for a few laughs, great stories, absurdity and whatever the hell else he wants to talk about.” His guest in this clip is none other than Twittizen Tom Jackson Jr., who is a retweeting mofo that has given Succotash a great deal of love. But we’re obvious not the only target of Tom’s affection, as Travis describes him as one of his “awesome followers.”

Get Up On ThisFrom the bottomless SModcast network comes Get Up On This with Jensen Karp, once known as "Hot Karl" as a white rapper at the same time as Eminem's rise to fame, and Matt Robinson, best known for co-writing and co-directing The Invention of Lying movie with Ricky Gervais. They and their weekly guests tell you what you need to know about before whatever it is their talking about gets big. This clip features guest Beth Sterling.

Duncan Trussell Family HourThe description for The Duncan Trussell Family Hour, which we’ve featured before, calls it “a weekly salon-style supershow, where comedian Duncan Trussell and guests explore the outer reaches of the multiverse.” Tyson grabbed us off a hunk of Duncan’s 100th episode, where he reunited with Natasha Leggero, his former co-host of a podcast called The Lavender Hour (of which there are 60 episodes on iTunes.)

Comical PodcastComical Podcast is a comedy show about comic books hosted by two moderately funny guys from Houston, Texas. Justin and Miguel take the lead with various guest stars including (most commonly) Justin’s wife, Heather. The guys have been fans of comic books most of their lives and have been listening to podcasts for the last few years. It took some time and some convincing, but they've finally started their own show and it's gone great so far. This clip is from Epi10 “You Drop Your Pants, I'll Rip Mine...”

Matt & Corey Talk Too MuchMatt and Corey, of Matt & Corey Talk Too Much, asked if we’d clip them on the show. So Tyson obliged them by grabbing a slice off of their bonus episode, Epi18 where they talk about some horrible hillbilly accident involving a broken floorboards and a purple dildo. (Incidentally, Tyson informs me that this is the first show that he’s lifted from http://Spreaker.com - says it appears to be similar to Soundcloud.)

That’s it for Epi86. As I mentioned above, I believe that was a record for number of clips played on this show. Big thanks again to our associate producer Tyson Saner for collecting most of those. And a big thanks to YOU for downloading or streaming this podcast. If you liked any of what you heard in today’s clips, do yourself a favor and track down those shows and give them a full-on listen. Not only did I mention their homesites but you can find most of all of them on iTune, Stitcher, SoundCloud and wherever fine podcasts (and otherwise) are located.

If you get a chance to shop Amazon, please use the banner at the top of our homepage to do it. Or visit http://SuccotashShow.com and click on the Donate button to shovel us a buttload of cash that you're not using any more.

Please don't forget to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:52:00yescomedy,podcasts,marc,clips,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi85: Delvin' with Davian DentMon, 14 Apr 2014 03:15:00 +0000Hi! It's me, Marc Hershon, and this is the official blog entry for Epi85 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast.

What’s it been? THREE weeks since the last episode went out? Damn, if I was on a network they would have dropped my sorry ass by now. But - as always - thank YOU for listening.

And thanks to this episode's special guest co-host for being here all the way from England! Davian Dent is not only host of his own podcast, The Bitter Sound, but he also co-hosts another one called Strange Times. Davian is with me for the entire show. He's also a musician and an audio wunderkind as well. He's brought some clips, I've brought some clips and there's also quite a bit of chat in between.

And what, exactly, is on the show today, you might ask? Clips, of course. Davian selected some, I picked some, we’re going to play clips from both of Davian’s shows.

I also have a quick chat with Mike Guido, an old friend of mine who started out in standup comedy years ago in the burgeoning San Francisco scene but went away from it for a long time. Now he's back with a touching one-man show, A Real Man - Dad. Daughter. Autism. And Mike's just trying to raise a mere $9000 in the next couple of weeks to turn his stage show into a video to raise awareness for autism. Find out more through our brief conversation, check out his video on Kickstarter.com and see if you don't find it to be a very worth cause. (Succotash put our money into the kitty…)

In addition to clips n' chat, this week's epi also feature TWO Bursts O' Durst with our political comedy correspondent Will Durst, a brand new commercial for Henderson's Pants and a rummage around the ol' Tweetsack.

The 10 Most Active Shows In Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

SURPRISE! This week I'm trying an experiment to NOT list the !0 Most Active shows here on the blog. Instead, you're going to have to download or stream the show in order to hear Davian and I reading the list aloud, to music no less.

Clips

Chillpak Hollywood HourHosts Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness are just about to close out their seventh year of consecutive weekly podcasts. in the clip this week we learn that myself and our Associate Producer Tyson Saner are being outed on Chillpak as being members of the Illuminati.

The Bitter SoundMy guest co-host Davian Dent this week shares a snippet from his "main hang", The Bitter Sound, and we talk a bit about how it came about as well as why it's got such a unique, well, sound.

Strange TimesDavian also sheds a little light on his unique companions - Kat Sorens and Jerry T'what - who are housed under the guise of the Strange Times podcast.

Sweet Feathery JesusMy guest co-host puts his stake in the ground this week (not a euphemism) and proclaims that SFJ is his favorite podcast. The antics of Booze, Belasco, and Dr. P fill me with a sweet, feathery feeling as well as we share a bit of their trademark banter.

The Andy Daly Podcast Pilot ProgramThe eight episodes of inspired brilliance that comprised this limited-run podcast series have ended their initial debuts but you can binge-listen the heck out of what Andy Daly and Superego's Matt Gourley created over on Earwolf.com. Each show featured one of the delightfully strange characters which Andy initially brought to life during various times on the Comedy Bang Bang show. The clip we have is from Shut Up And Have Fun with Danny Mahoney.

Tiny Odd ConversationsWe listen in to a recent episode of the show which features Travis and Brandi Clark, longtime friends-of-Succotash and, as it happens, favorites of Davian's as well. Brandi coins a new term in this clip that has Travis proclaiming his undying love for her all over again.

Fitzdog RadioHost of Fitzdog Radio, Greg Fitzsimmons, was our Special Guest on the most recent episode of Succotash. During that conversation we touched on the menace of a certain patent troll who has set out to make lives miserable for podcasters. Adam Carola is one of the chief targets of the troll and I thought it important that our listeners learn a little bit more a\bout this threat to podcasting everywhere so we play a bit of Adam's visit with Greg.

The Brit & The AmericanAgain, the tastes of my guest co-host and I dovetail in the form of The Brit & The American, a fun show with international flavor featuring the lively conversation between co-hosts Alba Lewis and Thomas Moore.

Homeo & JulietI happened to catch comedian Mary Patterson opening for Greg Fitzsimmons when he played the Punchline in San Francisco a few weeks ago. That's when I discovered she has a podcast which she shares with Jason Romaine. Usually p'casting out from Los Angeles, they have a number of folks in "the biz" on their show. In this clip, they chat it up wiht comedy writer Alec Moore.

That's pretty much it but don't be fooled by the length of my blog entry (people often are), as this show passes an hour and a half quite neatly in its runtime. Plenty for everyone so please don't be shy about passing the Succotash!

Stand-up comedian. Writer. Show runner for television shows. And the host of Fitzdog Radio – both his live show on Sirius FM and his podcast which, refreshingly, isn’t just his satellite radio show dumped into the podstream and re-aired.I sat with Fitz — a nickname he did not invite me to use – after a recent show at the Punchline in San Francisco and we chatted for about a half hour. You’re going to hear the entire thing, unedited, in this episode.

But that's not all!

We’ve crammed a bunch of clips into this episode. Three of them are from former radio personalities who were on terrestrial radio for a LONG time but they’re now enjoying the freedom of podcasting – the main difference, I think, between what they did and what they’re doing is that they’re happy that they can say fuck and shit and all the other words they weren’t allowed to utter on the airwaves.

What's More

We’ve also got our Burst O’ Durst with comedian Will Durst. And he’ll be appearing at an event I’m hosting THIS week at Alfred’s Steakhouse in San Francisco. If you’re in the Bay Area, that’s on Thursday, March 27th, and it’s a fund-raiser by the producers of the 3 Still Standing documentary so they can afford to finish the film. You can glean more info for THAT show at http://3StillStanding.com.

But I digress. We also feature a classic Henderson’s Pants spot, our Tweetsack segment and more. Well, no, actually, between that stuff, clips, the Fitzsimmons interview, that’s about it.

10 Most Active Shows in the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

Provided exclusively by Succotash, the 10 Most Active Shows in the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast List features those shows that have moved up OR down the charts the most in the past week. Let’s have a look…

And for the second week in a row, our friend Chris Lanuti and his crew in the Broadcast Basement podcast are right on the bubble, hanging in there at #100. Way to go, guys!

It was a good week for Succotash on the Stitcher chart this time around – again – as we climbed 2209 places from 7488 to #5279 this past week!

Radio Daze

I’ve spent a lot of time in Los Angeles over the years, including living down there three different times when I was either looking for writing work or doing writing work, and I would always listen to the Mark & Brian Show, which was a moring radio staple for years down there, on 95.5 KLOS. It was Mark Thompson and Brian Phelps and they started their show in Sepetember of 1987, which was about the same time I started hanging out in LA.

They hung up their radio togs in August of 2012, about a month shy of 25 years as a team. Well, guess what? You can’t keep a radio guy down. They’re both now podcasting. Each with a different show, and 3000 miles apart, as Mark left LA and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he does a daily podcast with his wife, Lynda, called appropriately…

The Mark & Lynda PodcastThey do their podcast live on the web, so that allows them to take and make phone calls as well as keep things very current, newswise. They’ve also got a great listenership, as evidence by the fact they tagged in at #13 on this week’s Top 100 in Stitcher’s Top 100 Comedy Podcast List. Our clip is out of Mark & Lynda’s St. Patrick’s day show, where Mark relates a story about Steve Martin that happened after Mark left KLOS on his very last day of the Mark & Brian Show.

The Brian & Jill ShowThe Brian part of the Mark & Brian Show hasn’t been quite so hot to jump back in front of the microphone. He’s got his own podcast – The Brian & Jill Show – that he co-hosts with actress Jill Whelan who some of you might remember as the daughter of Captain Stubing on The Love Boat. But his show only drops periodically – about once a month – just when he feels like doing it. Hasn’t hurt his popularity, though – this past week his show came in at #31 on Stitcher’s comedy list. I pulled a clip off his lastest outing where he’s relating a story from his mother and some trouble she’s been having with a bingo partner.

Off The Air with Chick McGeeOur last radio-themed clips revolves around the Off The Air podcast. Listeners to the well-known Bob & Tom Show out of Indianapolis but syndicated nationally are no doubt familiar with the name Chick McGee, who has been a longtime member of their team. In 2012 he also started his own podcast, Off The Air with Chick McGee, where he lets his hair down a bit, swears and generally has a good time with his own little team of cohorts and occasional guests. He also shows up frequently in Stitcher’s Top 100 comedy podcasts – this past week he moved up one place to #36. The clip we harvested features personal finance expert Peter The Planner talking about the most outrageous financial cliam he’s seen someone try to get away with.

The Rest of The Clips

Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre PodcastA couple of episodes ago we featured a clip from British comedian Richard Herring’s Me1 v Me2 Snooker — or “snOOker”, as it’s properly pronounced, apparently. (Richard took me to task over that one a bit in thanking us for playing the clip.) He’s got several podcasts, as it turns out and, based on a suggestion from Andy McHaffie, I checked out Richard Herring’s Leicest Theatre Podcast. Funny! Funny enough for me to have reviewed for This Week In Comedy Podcasts on Splitsider.com last week. We feature a taste from a recent epi with his guest, fellow English comedian Jenny Eclair.

The Angry Chimp ShowWe got a recommendation to give a listen to a podcast called The Angry Chimp Show. Our Associate Producer Tyson Saner clipped us off a piece of a recent episode but neither he nor I can find much out about who is the brains behind this new podcast. They seem to be out of Australia, and they do sketches and songs. Beyond that, it’s a mystery.

Strange Times PodcastWe’ve mentioned the Strange Times Podcast before – hosted by Davian Dent of the Bitter Sound podcast, Kat Sorens from The Rigid Fist podcast and their newest co-host Jerry T’What. Recently our own Bill Heywatt, who you heard a short while back on for Henderson’s Pants, was a guest on their show. They had some technical difficulties, namely Davian Dent’s audio part of the interview failed to represent. But’s we have a couple of minutes of Bill, with a few side comments from the other guys.

That's going to do it for Epi84. Hey, if we still haven’t played a clip from YOUR favorite podcast, why not drop me a line at m-a-r-c@SuccotashShow.com or call into our Succotash Hotline (818-921-7212) to let me know!

]]>01:19:06yespodcast,comedy,greg,marc,pants,clips,fitzsimmons,hendersons,comed,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi83: Clippin' With The Best of 'EmSun, 09 Mar 2014 18:45:24 +0000Welcome to the Succotash experience, Epi 83. And we’ve got a show chock full of the stuff that you download and/or stream us for: Clips. That's right. Comedy podcast clips from all over the place with not a single interview to sully the mix.

Most of the clips in this episode were provided by Associate Producer Tyson Saner. My wife and I have been in the process of moving for what seems like weeks and so Tyson has been up there at the top of the great dam of the Comedy Reservoir all by himself and he’s let the clips you’re going to hear today get through.

Speaking of Tyson, he got a little shout out from our buddies Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness over at the Chillpak Hollywood Hour last week. So I took the time to snip you that clip myself, as well as a couple of others that you're going to hear this show.

We, as usual, also offer you our Burst O' Durst segment from cultural comedian Will Durst. And we have a Henderson's Pants ad for their new Ransom Pants.

The 10 Most Active Show in Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

Last episode I pretty much skipped this feature because there simply wasn’t that much action on the Stitcher Top 100 in terms of shows moving up or down. This week’s pretty sluggish as well, but there was some movement on the charts…

ATMOVED

16. Duncan Trussell Family Hour +525. DeathSquad +537. Off The Air – Chick McGee +543. Fitzdog Radio -546. SModcast >> Edumacation +755. Alison Rosen is Your New Best Friend -658. This Week In Blackness Radio -868. Improv for Humans w/Matt Besser +685. The Dana Gould Hour +3487. New York City Crime Report with Pat Dixon +42

Happy to report that ol’ Succotash is on our way back UP the Stitcher charts after last week’s dreadful score, which was at #9465. This week we’re up 1,977 places to #7488.

Thanks for Amazonin' Through Us!

As I mention in this episode, we've started getting some lovely little checks form Amazon because some of youSuccotashianshave been using banner ad at the top of our SuccotashShow.com homesite to get ot Amazon to do your shopping. When you do that, they kicks up back a little buckage and that's been helping us to defray a few costs. Please feel free to keep right on doing it!

The Clips

Screams And MoansFaithful Succotash listener Megan M. (aka @PodcastWhore) has kicked off her own podcast. "Screams And Moans is about movies and sex but not together, as that would be porn," according to a note I got from Megan. She says that every episode is different with a different guest co-host, a different film and a different listener question/topic related to more carnal matters. One of the things she loves most about her show and the format is that she gets to meet a variety of interesting and creative people. Folks featured in the clip we have include Sassy from The Most Popular Girls on the Internet, Bonn from the Bonn and Obo Show, Nigel Boydell from HMS Codcast/Uncle Arthur's Bollocks Collection,Davian Dent from The Bitter Sound and Dr. Norman Trousers from the Casa Mirth podcast.

Steve Agee UhhhI’ve been hearing Steve Agee on podcasts for awhile now but, until Tyson Saner sent this clip along this week, I had no idea he not only has a podcast – called Steve Agee Uhhh but he had a previous podcast that had about 50 episodes – he mentions that fact in this clip, with his guest actress Juliette Lewis who, up until this visit, had never been on a podcast.

Getting Doug with HighTyson grabbed a hunk from the audio version of Doug Benson's LIVE videocast, Getting Doug With High. Every episode he finds interesting people and celebrities and smokes it out with them while talking about issues of the day. In this clip he’s with legendary stoner Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong and comedian Kyle Kinane.

NSF WatercoolersThis next clip is from a show called NSF Watercoolers (or Not Safe For Watercoolers). Apologies. I have no idea who the people are on this show. I could find nothing on the several websites for the show which I looked at, which summons forth one of my pet peeves in podcasting – my PPPs, if you will: How hard is it to put out a little information on your homesite? However, the blurb on their site says “All the Film, TV, Music, and Pop Culture info you need to attack that next watercooler moment with confidence.”

Down With Joe DerosaOne of the newest podcasts by a comedian is Down With Joe Derosa, and he brings a very simple straight-forward show concept with him: One guest, one topic. In the clip we have, he reunions with his former co-host from a radio show and podcast called Uninformed, who is none other the host of the Monday Morning Podcast, Bill Burr. The topic in play? Anger Management.

Ari Shaffir’s Skeptic TankThis podcast is consistently in Stitcher’s Top 100 Comedy Podcasts as well as always up in the hot downloads on iTunes. Comedian Ari Shaffir usually has fellow comics on with him to talk about all sorts of topics. For instance, in his Epi147, entitled “Closet Case” he has Kevin Meaney on and one of the central points of their conversation is having Kevin talk about what it was like to come out of the closet at the age of 50. In this clip, they’re covering some ground about how he didn’t seem to have much motivation towards comedy or much else in his teen years.

Dave & Crow ShowDarren Staley is back in the podcasting game, along with new partner Dave Simmons. They're just getting started with their random subject chat show. In fact, I'm pulling this clip from Epi2, in which Darren has a bit of a tirade about lanyards.

Ice-T Final LevelLast week we got a note in the Tweetsack suggesting we give a listen to Ice-T's new podcast, Final Level. The father of gangsta rap has conquered music, movies, TV and now, along with co-host Mick Benzo, has entered the podcasting arena. Welcome, Ice-T. Glad to have you aboard. Not sure what he’s doing constitutes a comedy podcast but when Ice-T asks you to play a clip, you play a mutha fuckin’ clip.

Film FandangoI featured a clip from Do The Right Thing, the English panel show, a couple of episodes ago, on the recommendation of our friend @Good_Podcasts, who then suggested that we give a listen to Film Fandango, which supposedly features Rachel Ward from Do The Right Thing, along with David Reed and Marek Larwood. They talk about movies, as you can tell by the title but, oddly, in the clip we grabbed from Epi118, Rachel Ward doesn’t seem to be part of the mix…

NetHeadsWill Wilkins is the technical wizard who keeps Smodcast Internet Radio running smoothly. And he also co-hosts a live show on the SModcast Internet Radio called NetHeads with Trent Hunsaker. I’ve met Will at last year’s Stitcher Awards because he’s located in the Bay Area so he shows up to pick up any awards the SModcast wins there. He was at THIS year’s awards, too, sporting a pair of Google Glasses. This clip is from a segment of their recent "Best Of, Really?" episode that features regular listener/contributor "Francis" whose speciality is Golden Age Comic books.

Squarehead KidsOur next clip comes from The Squarehead Kids, a big ol’ barrel full of podcast hosts including Frank, Jay, Big Daddy Deck, Little Ricky and the Good Doctor, PLUS their assorted guests. It’s a bit of a clusterchat but they manage to keep their free-ranging conversation more or less together…

That’s it. We’re done. Epi83 is finito and I’m outta here until next time when we SHOULD have Greg Fitzsimmons as our special guest. Remember to go see him this week at the Punchline in San Francisco if you're in the Bay Area.

In the meantime, be good to each other, shop at Amazon through the banner at SuccotashShow.com, and please remember, no matter where you go or what you do, to pass the Succotash.

This is Episode 82 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, and I AM your host, Marc Hershon. Terribly sorry for the delay between shows. My wife and I have been in the throes of moving - not far, really only about 10 minutes from where we were living - but you know what moving can be like. Especially for a podcaster - you misplace one box with important equipment in it and it's like your show never existed.

Anyway, last episode I had fun with our Associate Producer Tyson Saner co-hosting the show. This time out our special guest is Hal Lublin from The Thrilling Adventure Hour and The David Feldman Show. We first interviewed Hal last year when he was up for the 12th Annual San Francisco Sketchfest. This year he was up for the 13th edition and we caught up with him again. (During the interivew we had some short unplanned cameo appearances by Ben Blacker, Cole Stratton, and Scott Lifton, but that's what happenes when you set up in the lobby of the hotel Sketchfest was using as their main HQ for this year's event…)

In addition to our catch-up session with Hal, we've got some clips and not one but TWO of our Bursts O' Durst with political comedian Will Durst.

THE TEN MOST ACTIVE SHOWS IN THE STITCHER TOP 100 COMEDY PODCAST LIST

Who moved the most up or down the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast list this past week? Just listen…

Glad to see our old pal Craig Shoemaker vaulting into the top 100! We had him as our Special Guest back in Epi29 – maybe we can rope him into another interview soon.

HENDERSON'S PANTS LOGO

A few weeks ago, I tweeted that I would like to have folks submit designs for a Henderson's Pants logo, with the idea we might start to sell some t-shirts, open a phony website, who knows? Listener and podcaster Dr. Norman Trousers rose to the challenge and submitted several, one of which appears here:

I love it! Anyone else have an idea, you're going to have to go Doc Trow one better. Plus he and his co-host cut us a special clip from their Casa Mirth podcast for this episode!

CLIPS

What Say You?As you may know, I’m one of the gang of reviewers that contributes to This Week In Comedy Podcasts up at Splitsider.com every week, along with Zoe Schwab, Pablo Goldstein, Josh Sorokach, Robert Schoon, Scott Reynolds, and Jenny Nelson. This week I reviewed What Say You?, hosted by Brian Quinn and Sal Vulcano. If you watch Impractical Jokers on TruTV, these are two of those guys. And Brian is also part of the Tell ‘Em, Steve-Dave podcast on the SModcast network. What Say You? Is just these two guys – Brian and Sal – talking about whatever comes into their heads. The lastest epsiode has a story about a pair of women’s pants that Sal received via UPS by accident and what he ended up doing about them. It’s, well, not normal… And that’s how it starts. The story get so funny that Brian ends laughing so hard that he actually ends up throwing up. As I concluded on in my review on Splitsider for this show: Podcast Gold.

Casa MirthI always appreciate when a podcast wants to send along a clip of their show. Promos I'm not as keen on but one thing that only happened afew times in the almost three years that I've been doing Succotash is someone taking the time to put together a custom clip. Dr. Normal Trousers and his partner-in-podcasting River Zambezi have done just that. Coupled with the Henderson's Pants logo that Trousers did, Casa Mirth ranks right up there with the best!

HMS CodcastAs I just got done writing about, I'm not a big fan of the pre-fab promo but I got one in that's from a pretty original show and put together by a fellow podcast who's recently had some tough breaks, healthwise. Nigel Boydell had been doing a very funny show called Uncle Arthur’s Bollocks as well as a second program, CSI Troutbeck. One of the complications from his health issues was that he had to have 16 teeth removed. Yikes! This has left him with what he calls "a pronounced lisp." But podcasting is what he wanted to do so he ended up WRITING one and engaging podcasters from all over the place to help read the passages from a series of continuing misadventures of a ship’s crew on a voyage to discover the New World. So far he’s got episodes voiced by the likes of the aforementioned Dr Norman Trousers (Casa Mirth), Matt LeRoy (Wicked Radio Network), Matt Brundage (Another Damn Trivia Show) and Jenny Sorens, wife of podcaster Kat Sorens (Strange Times Show)

Salty LanguageOne of our frequent retweeters is the Salty Language podcast with Bryan Stewart, Tony High, and Tate Hayes. These guys and a gal talk about a lot of stuff and recently they were on about The Beatles big 50th Anniversary on the Ed Sullivan show. Tony isn’t on this clip which our Associate Producer Tyson Saner clipped for us, but you’ll get the idea of the show’s flow.

The Bitter SoundA longtime supporter of Succotash is Davian Dent, the host of both The Bitter Sound podcast as well as co-host of The Strange Times podcast. The Bitter Sound is a truly strange and wonderful combination of odd ramblings, ambient music, disturbing soundscapes and visits from a variety of people. In fact, our own announcer Bill Heywatt is slated to be a future guest on the show.

Me1 vs Me2I got a recommendation from Andy McHaffie, who tweets as @AndyMcH, to give a listen to Me1 vs Me2 Snooker, which features British comedian Richard Herring in an ongoing series of snooker games played by himself playing with himself. Well, not playing with himself. Playing AGAINST himself, really. And also serving as the commentators and the referees for the games. With a premise that odd, it had better be good. And so it is…

Not too many clips this episode but the Hal Lublin interview runs about 50 minutes, so you're still getting a lot of show! Enjoy…and remember to please pass the Succotash!

It was about a year ago that Tyson began sending me a stray clip or two, testing the waters to see if his choices jibed with the "flow of the show". And it wasn't long after that I recognized his value in helping me to canvas the vastness that is Podcastland in our ever-widening efforts to sample comedy podcasts.

By the end of last summer he'd been named our Honorary Associate Producer. He supplies the show with at least three and as many as a half-dozen of the clips you hear every week, as well as giving me valuable background info on both the specific clips and the shows from which they've been harvested.

At the beginning of the year he became our ACTUAL Associate Producer – as you can now hear in Bill Heywatt's closing credits – and this won't be the last time we hear his dulcet tones on the show, methinks.

In the course of the show we find out a little of Tyson's background, how he stumbled into being a massive podcast listener and fan, how he found Succotash and what really catches his attention when it comes to deciding to click that Subscribe button on a show.

We also have a DOZEN clips in this show, not to mention our Burst O' Durst, a brand new Henderson's Pants ad, and even a song from out of Tyson's repertoire of original music (most of which is available - for free - from SoundCloud!)

PLUS we have a Special Bonus Interview at the very end of this epi! Keep listening after Bill Heywatt says "Goodbye!" to hear my interview with Cole Stratton, co-organizer of the 13th Annual San Francisco Sketchfest and co-host of podcasting's Pop My Culture. We were backstage (or "mid-stage", actually) following his appearance in Speechless (a show I help produce) at the Sketchfest. Our chat is only about nine minutes long but, as it comes at the end of the longest Succotash episode yet recorded, it's a while getting there.

Top 10 Most Active Shows In Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

No wild swings up or down the Stitcher 100 list this past week, but there definitely was some movement in the chart…

I guess there WAS a major jump up the charts, actually, if you look at Succotash's nuimbers. We went from #5945 last week to #5107 this week, so that's pretty sweet!

The 2nd Annual Stitcher Awards were last week and I attended the ceremony, which was held at The Chapel in San Francisco. Many awards were given out for categories across the spectrum. I recount the winner in this episode of Succotash, but you can also go see the list of top prize getters on the Stitcher blog.

Burst O' Durst

In this episode's installment of comedian Will Durst's running commentary, he takes some potshots at the ultra-rich.

Podcast Review

For my portion of This Week In Comedy Podcasts over on Splitsider.com, I've reviewed The Nerdist with hosts Chris Hardwick, Jonah Ray, and Matt Mira, interview B.J. Novak, actor/writer from The Office and the author of a new book of short stories.

The Clips

Chillpak Hollywood HourThis week’s clip from CHH with Dean Haglund & Phil Leirness features them thanking me for catching a big ol’ audio snafu in their recent episode. (Hey, we podcasters have to help each other out, right?)

SModcastVintage SModcast (from July 10th, 2008) wherein Kevin Smith turns ordinary circumstances into "What If?" adventure time, pushing Scott Mosier furthur and further outside his comfort zone as the "What if"s become more and more unlikey, bizarre and often outrageous.

EdumacationThe idea behind this show (form the SModcast universe) is that Kevin Smith needs educating so Andy McElfresh brings in stories and information from around the world while Kevin asks as many questions as he possibly can which Andy also attempts to answer. Hilarity Ensues. This clip is of Andy attempting to apply real world diagnoses to the cast of The Cosby Kids.

Fitzdog RadioBobcat Goldthwait’s always entertaining and this time Greg Fitzsimmons has him. We get an interesting glimpse into the life of the once celebrated madman comedian whose ambition these days is all about making and directing movies. To fuel his interest, he’s back in the clubs, which leads to an interesting series of comedy club anecdotes.

Perfectly ImperfectThis panel-based comedy commentary show features four variously "challenged" hosts – Kathy Buckley, Tobias Forrest, Geri Jewell and Mark Povinelli – who take off on, debate, and otherwise have their way with a variety of topics. In this clip, it's about marriage equality and Muppets.

Broadcast BasementI was a guest with Chris Lanuti, the main host of podcasting’s Broadcast Basement this week. He asked me what kinds of podcasts I don’t particular like and which ones I do. Also how Broadcast Basement can get mentioned on our show more. Having me on as a guest is obviously one way…

Nardwuar, The Human ServietteNardwuar's chats with musicians are among some of the most unique in the history of music interviews. He plays his own version of This Is Your Life complete with memorabilia and gifts for his guests. In this clip, he's speaking with eclectic musician Jaap Blonk.

Do The Right ThingAnother fine British recommendation from our friend @Good_Podcasts, Do The Right Thing is a comedy panel show hosted by Danielle Ward with team captains Michael Legge and MargaretCabourn-Smith. Guest team members this week are Jason Manford & Sara Pascoe. In the “Agony Aunt” sequence this episode, the panel answers a letter about how to deal with a free-loading, loser former best friend.

Comedy Bang BangHosted by Scott Aukerman, the premise of the show is simple: Scott interviews celebrities, musicians and comedians. Another comedian or performer comes in after the initial interview and pretends to be someone else – sometimes a famous actor, but often a character from a television show, or sometimes a brand new original character. The featured guest is Park & Rec's Nick Offerman, who is interrupted by a whiny, pissy Paul Giamatti…voiced to perfection by James Adomian.

A Mediocre Time with Tom & DanThis show was one of the six podcasts nominated for Best Comedy Podcast for the recent Stitcher Awards. The winner was Comedy Bang Bang, but it must mean something that Tom and Dan got in there. They’ve got a subscription model show and a free version and they do their show out of Orlando, Florida. In this clip, they ruminate about Salem witch trials, a hot new restaurant idea, and they also talk about making it big in Nashville with one of their songs.

Adam & JPGot a note AND a clip in the Tweetsack this week from the Adam & JP podcast: “Hey Marc, I just recently found your show and I love it. Really great work! In advance, thanks for giving us a shout out. Basically, we talk all things geek (gaming, comics, movies, music, pop culture) with a comedic slant. We host a two hour radio show on a local station every Saturday morning and do a weekly podcast. I have attached a clip from our latest episode, in case you wanted to use it. Thanks again and we would love to chat with you on the show sometime to discuss your show." J Patrick Pretty funny stuff, guys!

That's a pretty full show! Almost TWO hours of Succotash! Enjoy it, savor it, and please remember to pass the Succotash along, too!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:57:08yespodcast,comedy,podcasts,marc,will,clips,tyson,durst,saner,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi80: Revisitin' With Paul MecurioTue, 28 Jan 2014 15:06:00 +0000Welcome to Epi80 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. This week our special guest is Paul Mecurio, who you would have also heard for a few minutes at the top of last episode, number 79, and for a longer interview back in Epi65.

To be honest, I was going to play my interview that I did back in October with Travis and BrandyClark, from the Tiny Odd Conversations podcast but I recorded it at a sidewalk café in North Hollywood and the traffic noise made it really difficult to listen to, which means I’ll have to visit them and have another sit down soon. Apologies guys!

I ended up having a good conversation with Paul, who was in town performing at the San Francisco Punchline. I caught his show on Wednesday night then we spent the rest of the week trying to coordinate a time for the interview. What finally worked was getting together in the last hour that he was in town, at his hotel, before he had to dash off to the airport.

We talked about some of the projects he's got going on, from his headlining gigs around the counttry to some TV show ideas he was on his way to LA to pitch, and also The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, both of which he still does audience warmup and writing for.

During the interview I cut away to play a couple of audio snippets from things like his Makeover Specialist and this video segment he did from Got No Game, a show on HBO Sports…

The 10 Most Active Shows in the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

Here's our weekly look at the shows that moved the most UP or DOWN on Stitcher's Top 100 Comedy Podcast list.

ATMOVED

28. The Crabfeast with Ryan Wickler & Jay Larson +634. Bertcast’s Podcast +1236. SModcast >> Jay & Silent Bob Get Old -1044. Keith & The Girl Comedy Podcast -1148. What Say You? +662. About Last Night +3175. How Was Your Week with Julie Klausner +3085. The Almost A Show Podcast +18189. The Half-Assed Podcast with Gary & John +29594. Out Of The Box Podcast -11

And Succotash has actually benefited by missing a week, apparently, as we are hanging at #5945, which is UP 1616 place since last episode! Maybe we'll stay away more often…

Burst O' Durst

In this week'sBurst O' Durst segment, our Ambassador to the Middle rails a bit on New Jersey governor Chris Christie. He's a hard target to miss.

Musical Break

During the show we play a cut from Walk The Fire, the new album by friend-of-Succotash John Anealio. You can get the whole album for whatever price you name at http://JohnAnealio.com.

The Clips

Midweek DriveA few episodes ago we got our weekly shout out from The Chillpak Hollywood Hour from a guest of theirs: Alex Lewczuk, who’s the host of The Midweek Drive radio show and podcast in Britain (where he's joined by regulars John Jarrold, Holly Cox, and Gabriella Peralta.) I vowed then to feature a cut from his show and I finally got one that’s MOSTLY understandable to the American ear and which should be imminently familiar to a British audience. In this clip, Alex’s guest was English comedian Stu Francis. It seems the show, in trying to research Stu, had actually gotten to the website of STEWART Francis, a Canadian comic. Then they get into a discussion about Stu’s catchphrases, which are apparently his hallmark.

ManBuyCow PodcastThis show was recommended to us via Twitter. I think it was Davian Dent from the Bitter Sound Podcast, actually. In realtime, on Twitter, I asked our Associate Producer Tyson Saner to go grab a clip which he did. But I ended up listening to the whole episode and I gotta tell you that, if you’re taste in comedy runs in the Monty Python/Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy vein, this show has got to be on your Subscribe list. ManBuyCow is from England and features two guys – Rufus & Howard. Last names undiscoverable so far. In this clip, the guys are mucking about with a clairvoyant tea kettle.

Newbs RadioThis segment comes directly from Newbs Radio and it is not a comedy podcast, really. But the host, Eric Newby, is a supporter of Succotash and I told him I can pull some strings and get a clip of his show on the episode. He has a lot of musicians on and he sent in this clip from last summer, with his guest – singer Jonathan Richmond – because he felt it “explains what we do for your listeners”.

Proudly ResentsI interviewed the host of the Proudly Resents podcast, Adam Spiegelman, during the LA Podcast Festival a few months ago. He’s been back in New York THIS month for the New York Podcast Festival. He did a live Tribute to Troma Films which I reviewed in last week’s This Week In Comedy Podcasts for http://Splitsider.com. And then he interviewed the co-founder of Troma, Lloyd Kaufman, who’s a genius of the ultra-low budget film. In this clip, he reveals how they can afford to keep flipping and exploding cars in Troma films, as well as how to crush a head on screen

The John Dredge Nothing To Do With Anything ShowThe same day I got word about the ManBuyCow podcast (see above), @Good_Podcasts on Twitter suggested we give a listen to The John Dredge Nothing To Do With Anything Show. I was game. @GoodPodcasts never steers us wrong and John Dredge himself has retweeted some of our tweets. So Tysonpulled down a clip from a recent episode and – Ahhhhhh – pure audio hilarious weirdness ensued. Starring John Dredge, Anna Emerson from the Boom Jennies, Greg Haiste from Haiste & Lawrence – and sounding a lot like Greg Proops putting on a British accent – along with James Shakestaff. Needless to say, that’s up on my Subscribe list now, too. The URL is too long for me to read and not screw up so you can click on it at this episode’s blog at http://SuccotashShow.com or just type “John Dredge Show” into Google. You’re find it.

That what Epi80 has in store for you. We appreciate it when you take time out of your busy day to not just listen to the podcast, but especially when you go up to iTunes where you can rate and review us. You can also Like our Facebook page (where you can even stream episodes of Succotash while you're catching up on your friends' status updates!)

Okay, that's it for now.

Please pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:21:52yespaul,comedy,podcasts,marc,clips,mecurio,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi79: New Yearin' with some ClippageSun, 12 Jan 2014 21:06:00 +0000Howdy and Happy New Year from Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast! In typical fashion, this greeting isn't coming until the second week of the new year. We kick off the show with Skype visit from comedian, podcaster, and friend of the show Paul Mecurio. He's going to be at The Punchline in San Franciscothis week, so if you're in the Bay Area, be sure to check him out! (I'll be at the Wednesday night show and will be packing some of our Succotash magnetic buttons - just ask me for one!)

I'll be meeting up with Paul and doing a face-to-face sitdown for a longer chat which we'll feature on an upcoming epi.

Paul's opening intro with me is only a few minutes of this show, which means we've got time for a bunch of clips, our Burst O' Durst - in which political comedian Will Durst gives us his predictions for 2014, an ad for Henderson's Auld Lang Slacks, our Tweetsack segment, and the pilot episode for Adam Barker's new Batfella pod series!

As I announce in this week's episode, our Honorary Associate Producer Tyson Saner is no longer honorary, he's actually the Official Associate Producer! While there's no salary or benefits that come with the gig, we're honored to have his services in harvesting clips from the vast field of comedy podcasts out there. And he'll be co-hosting an upcoming episode soon, so you'll get to hear from the man himself.

The 10 Most Active Shows in the Stitcher Top 100 Comedy Podcast List

Of the shows that moved the most on this week'sTop 100, nine were up and only one was down.

Big Pop FunWe’ve featured Big Pop Fun before. That's the podcast hosted by comedian and actor Tom F. Wilson. It’s a nicely put-together interview show and recently the guest was none other than friend-of-SuccotashTravis Clark from the Tiny Odd Conversations podcast. (I have my own interview that I haven’t had a chance to get to that I did with Travis and his wife Brandi when I was in LA for the Podfest last October. I'll post it soon. I promise!

This Ain’t IowaI’m often talking about how vast the world of podcasting is and comedy podcasts comprise a major continent of that world. It’s so big that it’s hard to see – or hear – everything until it’s too late. This Ain’t Iowa is a podcast out of Las Vegas, hosted by comedian Brian Mollica and it’s been chugging along since 2006. But now that chugging is coming to an end. Brian’s doing his “farewell tour” of the show, as he calls it, and has been having past co-hosts and regular guests calling and dropping in. One of those guest was a guy who was only ever identified on the show as “Wooden Spoon” and Spoon seems to have a somewhat colored and checkered past on the show.

Pop My CultureWe haven’t heard from the Pop My Culture podcast for a while, with Cole Stratton and Vanessa Ragland - oh, they've been podcasting, we just haven't played a clip from them recently - but we’re going to hear from them now, along with their guest Armin Shimmerman, who you might know from his role as Quark on Deep Space Nine.

Break Room PartyI first caught wind of the Break Room Party podcast on Twitter so I decided to check ‘em out. At first, it sounded to me like one of those dreaded “shootin’ the shit” shows I’ve kind of come to fear having to slog through but I hung in there. Sure enough, the four hosts – Josh, Brandon, Trey & Ryan – didn’t disappoint. What they lack in comedy chops they make up for in comraderie and good natured ribbing. PLUS they dispense business advice. Every episode’s a different topic and this time it was about The Interview. The boys got off into a sideline about How To Turn The Interview Around.

UttabullAnother show that came via a Twitter reference is the first podcast that I’d heard of that originates from the Isle of Man in the British Isles. Liam and Jason are the hosts of Uttabull. (Or, rather, Liam seems to be THE host while Jason USUALLY shows up.) They do a segment called Jason’s News and that’s where I pulled this clip from, as the gents get into a story from somewhere in Poland.

Hangin’ OutcastTwitter was once again the conduit for me virtually meeting up with the Hangin’ Outcast podcast. These guys – Alex and Justin - are located in the Heart of the Inland Empire, which is another way of talking a whole bunch of nothing off the beaten track in Southern California. From this episode, I pulled the two hosts doling out some advice for those who want some to get into this podcast game.

The 31 PodcastTyson Saner clipped us something from a show I hadn’t heard of before: The 31 Podcast. It’s basically a twist on the old “20 Questions” game, in which the host, Brandt Tobler, asks his guests 31 questions. Not sure why. But here he is with his guest Tom Segura, cohost of his own podcast, Your Mom’s House.

BatfellaHere's the FULL debut episode of Adam Barker’s parody audio series, The Adventures of Batfella. Written and voiced by Adam along with some guests. Episode one, of many more to come, features the voice talents of British actress Rita Ramnani. If you're an Adam Barker fan (And, really, who isn't?), you should enjoy this show and not just because the two podcasts that Adam normally does – the Oddcast Podcast UK and Its Not Soccer are taking a break until early spring while his girlfriend has a baby.

There it is then. Epi79 is done. 2014 is off and running. And all is right with the world. I want to thank you, our listener, for doing us the honor of listening, I hope you continue to listen and, what’s more it would be delicious of you if you were to pass the Succotash…

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:04:11yespodcast,paul,comedy,marc,clips,mecurio,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi78: Christmasin' After The FactSun, 29 Dec 2013 02:19:00 +0000As Santa Claus said after a day of delivering toys around the world, "Oy." This Epi78 of Succotash was intended to be our Christmas episode but between the crush of business, holiday shenanigans, a wicked cold and assorted other speed bumps, it's only getting out now. And how was YOUR holiday?

We have a brief chat with Rachel Eaton, the Director of Content Partnership at Stitcher. We start out talking about the nominations for the 2nd Annual Stitcher Awards but they closed the Sunday before Christmas. Fortunately, Rachel also talks about the voting portion of the awards. The finalists to get your votes in each category will be announced on Tuesday, December 31st, after which you can begin voting at the Stitcher site. (I appreciate that Rachel took time out to talk via phone while on vacation visiting family back in Boston!)

We've also got a bunch of clips for you - many of which were harvested by Tyson Saner, our go-to guy and Honorary Associate Producer. He's also one of the three folks who called into the Succotash Hotline and dropped a holiday greeting on our listeners, all of which are featured in this episode. If you'd like to hear more of his melodious tones, I've been chatting with him about co-hosting an episode of Succotash sometime in January.

SONG OF THE SEASON

Our friend, fellow podcaster (Functional Nerds) and novelty songster John Alealio re-released one of his holiday classics, Batman Smells (A Rebuttal), and it's out pleasure to feature it this episode to help us round out our post-Christmas non-stravaganza. Click on John's name to go visit his site and pick up some of his tunage, won't you?

DOUBLE DOSE O' DURST

We're featuring not one but TWO of our Burst O' Durst segments this episode, including comedian Will Durst's belated Xmas List for 2013.

THE 10 MOST ACTIVE SHOWS ON THE STITCHER TOP 100 COMEDY PODCASTS LIST

Here's the way the movers, shakers, and droppers shaped up this past week:

Amish Baby MachineThis clip was a request I made of Tyson Saner after I read last week’s Top 10 Most Active Show On Stitcher’s Top 100 Comedy Podcast list. The show jumped up over 500 places to get in. So I asked Tyson to grab me a sample. In this taste, hosts Dags and Jeff welcome back Dan Simon, who shares tales from his recent African adventure.

WTFOne of the best known podcasts around is WTF or What The Fuck, with Marc Maron. He recently hit his epi450 and had Will Farrell on as his guest, which I reviewed for This Week In Comedy Podcasts on Splitsider.com. A few weeks earlier, Marc had author David Sedaris on and he’s a favorite of our friend Tyson Saner, who provided us with this clip of Sedaris reading from Marc’s recently published book. (Marc's IFC TV series Maron returns in May of the new year.)

Broadcast BasementChris Lanuti runs his show from an actual bar he has in his actual basement, surrounded by actual friends like Acoustic Mike and Wild Bill as well as whomever drops in. Chris is a former radio guy who knows how to run a show and I guess he’s the commissioner of the Broadcast Basement Fantasy Football League in which our Succotash Rocs did okay in this season, considering I know nothing about football other than the fact it’s the brown oblong ball. This clip focuses on that newish Christmas tradition: The Elf On The Shelf.

Seven Days A GeekThe lads over at Seven Days A Geek recently held their “30 Days of Podcasting” event. These guys aren’t just podcasters but they also get into the nuts and bolts of podcasting a lot – well worth subscribing. In this clip, Jay “The Angry Ginger” and Jeremy McBlizzard discuss horror movies including The Human Centipede.

The Black Guy Who TipsTyson Saner has clipped us a hunk of a pretty popular show featuring married couple Rod and Karen – no last names – who have been together since they were 16 and got marreid in 2002. They kick stuff around and also have interesting guests. This slice features the couple discussing R.Kelly’s ill-advised Q&A session via Twitter a little while back.

Big & CleverThis podcast out of England has been around for three years and if it hadn’t been brought to my attention by one of our friends on Twitter, I still might have heard about these guys Danny Blaze and Keith True. They’re a pair of DJs and, much like our new friends Trev & Ben, they talk about news of the day, current events, pop culture and enjoy taking shots at each each other every now and then as well.

There you go. A little over an hour of podcast gold. You can help us out for the new year by heading over to iTunes and gives us a nice star rating and perhaps a short review. You can also give us a "Thumbs Up" on Stitcher, Like us on Facebook, give us a heart on SoundCloud or Favorite our tweets when you see 'em on Twitter. You can also help us to offset expenses by clicking on the Donate button on the righthad side of our SuccotashShow.com website, dipping into your Christmas bonus and sending a little smidgen our way. We'll regale you in word and verse on the show.

Best wishes for a great 2014 and we'll talk to you next year!

- Marc Hershon

]]>01:08:09yespodcast,john,itunes,comedy,stitcher,holiday,marc,rachel,will,clips,tyson,durst,saner,eaton,anealio,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi77: Visitin' with Larry "Bubbles" BrownWed, 11 Dec 2013 06:36:00 +0000I'm Marc Hershon and this is the official blog entry for Epi77 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. Big thanks as always to our engineer-producer Joe Paulino, our announcer Bill Heywatt, our booth assistant Kenny Durgess and – once again – our Honorary Associate Producer Tyson Saner, who provided several of the clips you’re going to here in this episode. (Don't forge to look Tyson up on Soundcloud.com and listen to some of his original music.)

Not sure how you found yourself to the Succotash blog, but I invite you to listen to my podcast streaming from the homesite or from Stitcher On-Demand Radio OR from SoundCloud. Of course you can download us from iTunes AND we get replayed over on CWERadio.com as well.

Our special guest this week is Larry “Bubbles’ Brown, who is a standup comedian in San Francisco. You may have heard on a past episode of Succotash – he was with Dana Carvey in the car in Epi58 when the three of us hit the road to a couple of gigs. And he was also on Epi55, one of the crew at the table when I interview Andy Kindler.

Larry has been a fixture in the San Francisco comedy scene pretty much since he started (1981) and had rarely ventured far from home. Although he does get out on the road once in a while and has even been on David Letterman's show - twice - 21 years between appearances.

Our interview this episode is just us – one-on-one – back at D’Angelo’s, the same Mill Valley restaurant where the Kindler interview took place. Larry’s also one-third of the subject of a new documentary, 3 Still Standing, that’s been made about comedy in San Francisco starting back in the 80’s, and we talk more about that.

Because of the length of my interview with Larry, we have fewer clips that usual this episode but we still have a nice big handful of ‘em.

As I mentioned last week, I’m no longer going to tag every clip with the fact you can download the shows from iTunes and Stitcher.com, because it’s pretty much a given. But I’ll mention the homesite and some of the other places you can pick up the show.

RECORD YOUR CHRISTMAS SHOUT OUT!

Got a note via Facebook from Bonn, of The Strange Times Show and also of The Bonn & Obo Show. He wanted to know if we were planning any kind of special Christmas show and was I interested him putting something together for it. We weren't BUT, after getting Bonn's message, I figured we should do something after all. SO, to any and all comedy podcasters within sight of this blog, just pick up your phone and call the Succotash Hotline at (818) 921-7212 and leave a holiday greeting! You can plug your show, tell me how great Succotash is, do a shoutout to your loved ones, whatever. And I’ll play it on the show as we get near to Christmas.

FEATURES

In addition to our Burst O' Durst, with comedian Will Durst running down his Top 10 news stories of 2013, we have promo from the folks over at the StoryWorthy podcast - Christine Blackburn and Hannis Phinney - who made it special for us by including Dean Haglund from the Chillpak Hollywood Hour podcast. AND we have a new Henderson's Pants commercial with something special just in time for the holiday!

THE 10 MOST ACTIVE ON STITCHER'S TOP 100 COMEDY PODCAST LIST

In this feature, found exclusively on Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast, we don’t look at the shows sitting up at the TOP of the list but, instead, those podcasts that have moved the most up OR down the Top 100 in the past week. How’d it shake out this time around?

The Amish Baby Machine podcast?! Best title ever! Can't wait to check that one out.

Hey, the 2nd Annual Stitcher Awards are gearing up, which means nominations are open NOW! You can even nominate THIS show, your favorite Succotash podcast, to win! Go to Stitcher or hop on over to our homepage at http://SuccotashShow.com and click on the Stitcher Award button on the right hand side!

THE CLIPS

Modern Day Philosophers with Danny LobellThis new podcast features comedian Danny Lobell trying to his head around philosophy, which he does by inviting various comedian guests to come on and talk about a particular philosopher. Most recently, he had one of my favorite podcaster/comedians on, Bill Burr, and he threw 18th century’s Adam Smith at him, which they start to get into after Bill covers a little of his early home life.

Overview with Rick OvertonOne of my best friends is also a very funny comedian and has been running some great interviews from the helm of his own podcast. I’m talking about Rick Overton and Overview. He sat down recently with a guy whose radio show I’ve loved for years, Phil Hendrie.

Last Week On EarthComedian Ben Gleib appears frequently on Chelsea Lately and had a popular TV show that he directed, wrote, and starred in for the National Lampoon Network back in the mid-aughts. He’s up to 109 episodes of his SModcast podcast The Last Week On Earth, where he talks about news, politics, and sports. Normally he has a guest but he occasionally goes it alone, like in the clip we're featuring, where he speculates on what the upcoming TV show based on the old movie Ghost starring Patrick Swayze might be like.

AnxieTea PartySecond time around for us to feature a clip from AnxieTea Party with Kathy Hopkins. In Epi32, she hosts Dian Bachar. You might recognize him from his work with Trey Stone and Matt Parker of South Park fame – he was in BASEketball and Orgasmo. He talks with Kathy about comedy writing, improv as it pertains to acting, and social situations where people could benefit from a little “give and take”.

That’s most of the highlights of Epi77. (More bits and pieces lurking around in the episode that I didn't bother to mention here, so check it out!) Thanks for hanging out! Remember to take it easy on the road this holiday season and please don’t ever, ever, ever forget to pass the Succotash!

— Marc Hershon

]]>01:29:30yespodcast,interview,comedy,larry,marc,brown,clips,succotash,hershonSuccotash Epi76: Podfestin' with Chris ManciniMon, 02 Dec 2013 09:19:00 +0000Welcome to Epi76 of Succotash, the Comedy Podcast Podcast. To start off, and I've mentioned this on the show before, I don’t understand why some podcasts have “seasons”, like on television, or how they determine how many episodes constitute said seasons or why.

It’s all quite arbitrary.

But I have decided that we are going to start following this obtuse convention so welcome to the first season of Succotash, already in progress. This is episode 76, which means there are only 23 episodes left before the big season finale!

That’s right. You heard it here first: Episode 100 will be this show’s season closer.

Maybe we’ll make it a big deal. A live show somewhere, with lots of guests, lots of podcasters calling in and sending in messages. It’s a ways off, of course. At the rate I drop episodes, we’re looking at next summer sometime. A great time for a season finale! Or maybe it will be just me, huddled in my car in the pre-dawn light, trying not to wake the neighbors as I talk to you, our loyal listener.

Our show mostly has made its bones playing clips of comedy podcasts from around the world but we also feature interviews. This week our Special Guest is Chris Mancini. This is last of my official LA Podcast Festival interviews – it’s only taken two months to get through them all – and Chris is one of the creators and organizers of the PodFest. Chris is also co-host of the Comedy Film Nerds podcast, along with Graham Elwood, a previous guest on this show.

The Comedy Film Nerds podcast is a spinoff, more or less, from the Comedy Film Nerds website and also the book of the same name.. The website focuses on film reviews by both Chris and Graham but slso a number of contributors, including Dean Haglund and Matt Weinhold, both of whom have appeared on Succotash. Their book is more about film genres, with their contributors tackling everything from horror to romantic comedies.

We managed to corner Chris in a corner of the Podcast Lab at the PodFest and spend about 10 minutes chatting about how things were going and their plans for the future of the Fest. The Fest Future, if you will.

WHAT ELSE?

In addition to a pile of podcast clips (due in no small part to our Honorary Associate Producer Tyson Saner!), this epi also features a DOUBLE Burst O' Durst with our resident raging moderate, comedy Will Durst. Also, we have a holiday poem, Black Friday, by friend-of-Succotash and contributor Chet Hasse. And I talk a little bit about my appearance in Epi4 of a strange little web series called The Funster, produced and starring friend of the show Dana Carvey.

Here's the video:

TEN MOST ACTIVE IN THE STITCHER TOP 100 COMEDY PODCASTS LIST

In this week's list, there's a podcast from England that jumped an astounding 1139 spots to get up into the Top 100! Called The Trev & Ben Show, from Cryodon Radio, we also sliced off a taste during the podcast. But here's the whole list for the week:

Comedy Film NerdsThe Comedy Film Nerds podcast is a spinoff, more or less, from the Comedy Film Nerds website and also the book. Hosts Chris Mancini and Graham Elwood frequently have guests on the podcast but recently it was just the two guys and, in the clip we're featuring, they have a letter from a listener setting them straight on a movie-based issue.

Improv 4 HumansUsually Matt Besser’s Improv 4 Humans is Matt and his guests improvising audio scenes based on listener’s suggestions. In this clip, Matt and one of his guests, Chris Gore, from PodCRASH, discuss the core essence of what improvisation is about, beyond the simple “yes and” belief that’s floating out there for years.

Pep TalksThe week before last I reviewed Eddie Pepitone’s new podcast Pep Talks, part of the All Things Comedy Network, for Splitsider’s This Week In Comedy Podcasts. He’s just getting started, after years as one of the four hosts for The Longshot Podcast. Now it’s just Eddie, his head and also usually an interview guest. This clip is from his second episode, where he chats with Canadian comedian Glenn Wool, but what I’ve got here is from more of a one-man audio sketch Eddie did before the interview began.

Don’t Quit Your DaycastWe haven’t checked in with podcaster and longtime listener and supporter Ed Wallick over at Don’t Quit Your Daycast in a while. He recently hit his episode 50 after being off for a bit due to health reasons. But he’s back and still doling out his Asshat Of The Week award!

Doug Loves MoviesOur friend Tyson Saner clipped out part of a recent Doug Loves Movies episode. I do enjoy DLM but I somehow missed this moment when Doug Benson had Bert Kreischer, Lauran Lupus and Clare Kramer on and, partway through "The Leonard Maltin Game", Doug puts his spin on an idea that Bert had, and then Bert can’t stop laughing.